


Clutching a Cross in Prayer

by BeanOtter



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Background KyoMami, Britney Spears' Toxic plays in the background, Choking, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Homura is shit at taking care of herself, KyoMami Slowburn, Kyoko is trying her best, MadoHomu Emotional Slowburn, MadoHomu-centric, Madoka has delusions of grandeur, Mami will stab as a warning, Masochism, Non-Chronological, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Regular Violence, Sexual Violence, omakes at the end
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:08:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 34,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24410326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeanOtter/pseuds/BeanOtter
Summary: "Homura, stop daydreaming about that vampire, your expression is making me lose my appetite.""I will make you lose more than your appetite if you don't shut up about it. And could you please stop ordering more food, we do not have the money to cover your bottomless stomach."orTwo best friends whose lives get much more difficult after a pair of vampires take a liking to them. As if being Hunters in a world filled with supernatural creatures wasn't bad enough.
Relationships: Akemi Homura/Kaname Madoka, Sakura Kyouko/Tomoe Mami
Comments: 14
Kudos: 80





	1. First Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explicit chapters: 2 & 5

The church’s double doors were violently busted open by a body thrown through them with tremendous force. The black-haired woman’s momentum was painfully put to a stop when she crashed against the back of the building’s last row of pews, knocking them askew and leaving her to desperately catch her breath as she lay spread eagle on the dusty floor.

She would have recovered much faster if her back was the only thing hurting, but she was out of luck in that department. The pain of the numerous cuts and bruises that littered her body was almost overshadowed by her cracked ribs which screamed in pain made much worse by her heaving breaths, her heart thumping at a pace that worried her even more than the person she was up against.

_Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack, click-clack._

Speaking of the devil… The woman grimaced and tried not to move too much. Perhaps she could fool the vampire into believing she’s been knocked out – the bloodsucker seemed like the cocky type. The raven-haired hunter fingered the silver dagger in her palm and tried to calm her breathing and heart rate as the sound of heels grew ever closer to her position.

Battling against her instincts to keep her enemy in her sights at all times the woman remained as still as she could manage, gaze locked on the Church’s massive ceiling window that allowed the full moon to illuminate the area she had landed in with all of its glory. The infuriating clacking was almost upon her, and when it was a mere whisper away she blindly sprung her dominant hand that held the dagger up and towards what was hopefully her assailant’s shin.

She could have sworn she managed to lift her hand up much further from the ground than it actually did.

As it stood, her opponent was simply too fast. A precisely placed heel straight to the wrist that had barely even lifted off of the floor and the dagger was instantly out of her grasp, clattering uselessly to the side. Maybe it was the blood loss making her think she was faster on the trigger? Did internal bleeding count as blood loss? She resisted shaking her head at her own uncharacteristically scrambled thoughts.

“Thank you for being so generous as to allow me to show you first hand,” the vampire giggled at her own accidental wordplay, “why I like wearing heels, even if it makes fighting a little more cumbersome than it has to be~”

Trying to ignore the new injury, which was proving difficult due to the alarming numbing sensation of said appendage, dull purple eyes glared at the woman standing above her. The glow of the moon above them made it difficult to make out much other than the long pink hair and glowing eyes of similar color.

Demurely crossing her hands behind her back, body posture practically screaming, ‘I’m in control,’ the vampire put just a bit more pressure on her trapped prey’s impaled wrist, determined to drag out a beautiful sound of pain from the woman. She was only given a low groan, anything louder being contained behind clenched teeth.

“Resilient aren’t you?” she muttered with a smile that gave a brief glimpse of a pair of elongated fangs. “Of course, I already suspected as such, but it’s nice to have it confirmed. You’re probably wondering why we bothered to separate you two, aren’t you?”

The vampire received no answer other than a continuous glare.

She expected nothing less.

“Well you see,” the heel stabbing her wrist was lifted with little fanfare, prompting a sharp inhale from the hunter, “we took a liking to each one of you and decided to have a little fun with our favorites~”

Before her words could be properly processed the vampire was suddenly much too near.

Caging the hunter between her knees, one palm was gently placed on top of her chest, right above her heart, and the other on the floor, dangerously close to her neck. Scratch that, both her hands were dangerously close to two very valuable things. This was… This was not good. If only the hunter could bring herself to lift her arms, or legs, or anything really. Damn exhaustion and lightheadedness rearing their ugly heads at the worst of times!

The alarm bells in her head rang even louder as those lips brushed against her cheek, warm breath tickling her ear. She hadn’t even noticed the vampire getting her face this close to hers! She was panicking even though she usually took such pride in her level-headedness. _This was not good._

“You see,” that breathy purr nearly made her shudder, “when we spotted your little ragtag duo I instantly heard something off about you. Your heart was beating slower than your companion’s, weaker.” Straightening up, the vampire's pink eyes bore into the hunter’s with a sharp intensity, and the palm that delicately rested against her prey’s chest pushed down with more strength as to be able to feel that sickly yet oh so powerful heartbeat better.

“I have a love for creatures weaker than the rest but who still fight tooth and nail against those stronger and healthier.” Her palm curled in at those words, sharp nails tearing through the cloth and nicking the skin. “I admire that particular type of will.”

The vampire’s second hand finally came into play, feather-like touches caressing the hunter’s neck, fingers pressing against her pulse point for a terrifying second before those deadly talons began playfully dragging themselves along her throat, making the purple-eyed woman gulp in fear and… something else she was absolutely unwilling to admit.

With no warning whatsoever, the vampire curled her hand around her victim’s throat and squeezed hard enough to cut her airflow. The double pulse of the jugular that beat against her fingers and the heart still rested below her other hand immediately picked up its pace, a soundless gasp escaping the wide-eyed hunter. Once again the vampire brought her lips close, almost letting loose a moan of her own at the mere thought of being the one to put even more strain on that delicate heart.

“I wish to see you fight, to see you struggle against this world that hates you so.” Fangs scrapped along the outer shell of her prey’s ear, dragging out a strangled whimper. “And once it’s beaten you down and dragged you through Hell I’ll be there to pick you up and grant you the mercy your race so desires.”

Loosening her grasp on the hunter’s throat, the vampire gave no respite. Gripping the hunter’s chin she wasted no time in stealing her breath again, this time using her mouth and a tongue to invade and to mark as her own. And once the hunter’s throat rumbled with an adorable little whine of submission, the vampire changed targets and went straight for the neck.

Kissing the pulse point gently once, twice, she teased the breathless hunter with the idea of plunging her fangs in, lightly nipping and dragging her tongue up the length of her neck and back, reveling in the shivers and hitched breath. The vampire’s pupils dilated with unrestrained lust when the brunette tilted her head to the side, eyes closed with an open mouth gasping for breath, giving her a much better angle to do as she pleased.

Unable to hold back in the face of such a blatant invitation she sank her fangs in.

She began drinking in earnest, paying no mind to the hunter tensing up beneath her, whilst simultaneously slowly dragging her nails further down the brunette’s chest all the way to the stomach, ruining her shirt even more in the process and leaving behind goosebumps and delightfully angry trails that would last for days. The action rewarded her with a hoarse, hissed out, _“...fuck...”_ from that abused throat. The vampire fought back a smirk at the implications of the hunter’s preferences. How very useful for future run ins~

Pulling back, the vampire licked the two small wounds before giving them an apologetic brush of her lips. Straightening up, she gazed at the flushed, motionless, and dazed hunter. Smiling in satisfaction, she gave her one final peck and a pat on the cheek before standing up fully and skipping out of the Church.

“See you later, Homura-chan,” she said on her way out.

* * *

**Omake 1.**

"Hey, Homura! That big boobed vampire told me you'd be here, you better not be knocked out I swear to God!" Kyoko called out as she walked past the Church's wide-open door which was barely hanging on its hinges.

She froze and stared at the pink-haired woman that was about to bite her best friend. "You've got to be kidding me."

Mami came running in after her, tears streaming down her face. "Oh God, I'm so sorry! I mistimed it!"

Madoka pulls back to glare at the other two.

**Omake 2.**

Kyoko hesitantly peeked inside the Chruch. "Is she finally gone?"

Noticing only one body on the floor Kyoko sighs in relief and walks in. Coming to stand next to the motionless Homura, Kyoko puts a hand on her hip and stares at her in amusement, before lightly kicking her in the stomach.

"Ow, you fucking lunatic! Don't you know my ribs are cracked?!" Homura exploded, automatically curling in on herself to prevent being abused even more, which subsequently caused even more pain. Stupid reactionary responses!

"Firstly, no I didn't, and secondly, you probably liked it, so shut up. Besides, didn't you hear me coming? What, too busy reliving what just happened to you to reassure me you're still alive? I was worried sick for ya!"

Homura's indignant squawk and flaming face made Kyoko burst out in laughter. Finally, she had something to tease her best friend with! Oh, she was never going to let her live this down.


	2. What's a God to a Non-Believer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is KyoMami still getting sidelined yes it is

Sitting on a tree branch as if it were a throne, a young pink-haired woman in an extravagant white dress and heels watched with rapt attention as the battle in front of her unfolded. Despite it being nighttime with only the moon as illumination and even at her distance she was clearly able to see the two figures chasing each other around the clearing.

If their first encounter hadn’t been enough of a clue, she was now convinced the black-haired woman had been a hunter for a long time - _in human years, that is._ Her movements betrayed a level of experience which she rarely saw in the hunters she’d met, and that was no small feat since they rarely managed to stay alive long enough to gain any. It was a suicidal job, really, but it paid handsomely. On the condition, of course, they were able to complete the tasks they set out to do.

It was common knowledge that humans were the weakest of the species that inhabited this cursed Earth. But, even with their weaker dispositions, they were cunning little things. Resilient to a fault, prevailing through sheer determination and grit – that was what Madoka loved about them most. They were able to make something out of nothing for the sole purpose of keeping themselves afloat in an ocean that wanted them dead.

Especially those like the woman she was currently watching over.

Born weaker than the rest of their fellow humans by a cruel twist of fate, they had to struggle twice as hard, not only against the other species that prowled the night but against their own brethren as well. Those who succeeded, she knew first hand, were one of the greatest specimens humanity had to offer, and Homura Akemi was no exception.

Even from here, the vampire could see that constantly dodging the werewolf’s claws was tiring the hunter out.

But that was where her current favorite human shined the brightest. She could hear it in her heart, in its accelerated pace, see it in the smirk that you would have missed were you not looking for it, in the tenseness of her muscles. Yes, it was written all over her body; an idea, a dangerous idea that flirted with death and made your blood sing.

The deafening gunshot of victory brought a pleased smile upon Madoka’s face. How did she know the werewolf had enough mind to hold back and not rip her to shreds? Was it in its careful movements? The glint of intelligence in its eyes, or perhaps the grin once it saw the woman exit the trees and cross the clearing towards it? It could have all been a fluke.

But that was what gambles were made out of. A sharp mind, a dash of luck, and a heap ton of self-destructive recklessness.

Yes, people like Homura were precious indeed. Someone willing to put their life in the hands of the cockiness or animalistic nature of their opponent. Madoka can admit to herself that she has fallen prey to many infatuations towards these types of people throughout her life, but in the end, she was always the one to watch over them, comforting them in their final days. It was a gift she would share with no one. Only she would be allowed to end their struggle-filled existence, if they were strong enough to survive her first visit, that is. Mami would argue that this was no different.

But it was, oh how it was.

This one was one of the darker ones, filled with intoxicating primal urges that just begged to be shown to the world. It was obvious in her absolute willingness to give over her body and soul to the uncaring gods above, if they existed to take it, throwing everything away simply to _win_. Uncaring and devoid of everything other than the pain that drove her and a firecracker of a best friend. She accepted every single brush of Death’s lips to hers, then proceeded to spit in its face. Willingly shackling herself by virtue of her own emotions, twisting the destructive chains unto herself and using them to retaliate at the world while simultaneously hurting herself.

Madoka longed to have this woman as her own because even as romanticized as Mami would have said it to be, Homura Akemi was _special_. The vampire desired nothing more than to lay claim, mark her territory, and never _ever_ let her go.

* * *

That thing was too strong and too fast for Homura to keep fighting it fairly, and she was growing tired of their continuous dance of dodging and blocking.

If it took playing dirty to win this fight then that was more than fine with the hunter.

Bringing her left arm up into a guarding position she allowed the upcoming swipe from the werewolf to hit, claws savagely tearing through the skin. The hunter applied some fancy footwork while the momentum of the attack pushed her to the side to twist into a twirl, right hand grasping the hilt of the silver dagger strapped to her opposing arm’s bicep. A quick flip into a reverse grip in the middle of her spin and the pointy end was slammed into the beast’s right eye.

Not missing a beat, Homura let go of the dagger in order to pull out the gun resting in its holster on her thigh and without hesitation silenced the werewolf’s painful howl.

The hunter’s quick breaths were the only sounds in the area once the echo of her gunshot faded.

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

The grip on her gun slackened as her adrenaline rush wore off, and she lowered her raised arm. Kyoko would disapprove of her methods, she knew, her friend has been getting on her case lately, but the delightful sting of the bleeding claw marks would not let her regret a thing. Moving towards the wolf’s corpse in order to retrieve her precious weapon Homura’s lips twitched into a tiny smirk of satisfaction. These types of beasts were one of the hardest to kill, especially when the moon was out. Her risky gambit had only succeeded because it was sane enough to want to prolong the fight for its own sick pleasure.

The rustling of trees to her left instantly put her back on alert. Instincts screaming at a fast-approaching presence, the hunter twisted towards the disturbance, gun once again raised and finger already on the trigger.

The realization of being too slow was accompanied by a frustrating sense of déjà vu.

Rather than hitting its intended target, the fired bullet went careening into the dead werewolf’s chest, courtesy of her arm being jerked to the side by a delicate hand gripping her wrist. The sudden forceful redirection would have made Homura stumble if it weren’t for a second hand that reached out and gripped her left shoulder in order to steady her.

Startled purple eyes stared into a second pair of a lighter shade that glinted with unrestrained happiness.

“It’s extremely rude to point a gun at someone, you know?” the pink-haired woman in front of Homura pouted playfully. “Especially after I was nice enough to let you know I was coming.”

“Do you not have better things to do than to stalk me?” the hunter scowled, shoulders tensing up in apprehension. Her mind flashed back to their first encounter, inadvertently causing her heart rate to spike. Kyoko kept teasing her about it – she had been getting lost in thought constantly ever since, thinking about the exact person standing in front of her now.

“Don’t you have better things to do than to fight a werewolf during the night?” Madoka parried with a lifted eyebrow, the amusement in her melodic voice conveying to Homura she knew exactly what her presence was doing.

“It’s my job.” Homura’s curt reply was filled with venom, unwilling to give in to her stupid body’s dumb hormones over this stupidly sexy she-devil even as she licked her suddenly dry lips.

Expertly reading the hunter’s body language, Madoka’s lips slipped into a flirtatious smirk that just dripped of sex appeal.

Determined to make the hunter fall completely and utterly under her spell, the vampire shuffled closer, one foot settling in between those of her partner. Madoka delighted in how that movement alone made the other woman’s breath hitch as she slid her right hand up, resting it over the tense muscles between Homura’s neck and shoulder and starting a slow massage in order to soothe the irritated hunter.

“Relax sweetheart,” Madoka murmured sweetly, maintaining eye contact and using her voice alongside her gentle ministrations to keep the hunter’s attention on her while she worked on loosening Homura’s death grip on her weapon. They both knew the hunter was not going to stop her, and so, the gun was plucked out of her grasp and left to gravity’s devices. From there, the vampire ran a nail up the length of Homura’s arm, starting from her palm, cutting the sleeve of her shirt along the way like a pair of scissors cut paper.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Not after that wonderful spectacle you just performed for me~” That teasing hand rubbed up and down Homura’s toned forearm leaving goosebumps in its wake, squeezing the firm muscles, her nails biting down just shy of breaking the skin. Allowing herself to be a bit more vocal in her appreciation, Madoka let loose a rumbling trill from deep in her throat for the sole purpose of stringing her target tighter.

“It was not for _you_ ,” Homura scoffed instantly.

She had to take a deep breath through her nose in an attempt to steady herself. These touches and sounds were not helping her keep her wits about her, and the continuous eye contact with those sultry pink orbs that she could swear were getting darker by the minute was making her thought process falter at an alarming rate.

“Not for me?” Madoka gasped, eyes momentarily widening at the apparent betrayal. Leaning closer the vampire moved the hand that rested on Homura’s arm up to caress her cheek in a gentle action that conflicted with the rough thigh that was shoved in between her legs for a slow painstaking grind that surprised a low moan out from the back of her throat.

“Is there another vampire you’re trying to impress that I don’t know about?” The question was gentle and humorous but the undertone was nonetheless dangerous and _possessive_. Homura winced as the hand massaging her shoulder suddenly squeezed painfully, nails biting into the skin. “I suppose I’ll just have to make sure people know you belong to me~”

“I don't belong to you!” The squawked denial slipped past the hunter’s lips before she even knew what she was saying. Homura gaped for a second before quickly forcing her face into a neutral expression in a hopeless attempt to deny the reality she knew she had just wrought upon herself. It was hopeless, of course, the flush on her cheeks was a dead giveaway, and so was her hand that had somehow ended up resting against the thigh that had invaded her personal space, keeping said invader firmly pressed against herself.

“Oh, _really?_ ” Madoka purred in victory, zeroing in on the visible cracks on her prey’s mask like a shark smelling blood. Releasing the shoulder from her grasp, the vampire’s hand traveled under the shirt to spread her fingers across Homura’s upper back and prevent the other woman from escaping. Homura could not look away from those smoldering pink eyes, her brain’s last strings of coherency being cruelly played with by those fingers nonchalantly tap-tap-tapping across her back. The hand on her cheek moved up as well, running fingers through her hair and scraping wickedly sharp claws against her scalp. Their breaths mingled as Madoka brought her lips a mere tantalizing inch away from her own.

“Prove it.” The sickeningly sweet lilt of her voice an obvious taunt, egging the hunter on into finishing what she’d inadvertently begun.

Unable to restrain herself from acting any longer, Homura wrapped the arm that was previously hanging uselessly at her side around the infuriating vampire’s waist and crushed their bodies and lips together into a searing kiss, greedily sucking on those poisonous lips that have been teasing her so.

Her nerves lit up in a cacophony of pained screams, but that only made her hug the other woman tighter, her other hand briefly trailing up from Madoka’s thigh to rest on her hip. She harshly bit down, earning a small gasp for her troubles.

This close, the vampire could slide her hand even further down Homura’s back, though she wasted no time in dragging it right back up, making sure to harshly dig her sharp nails along her spine, just the way she knew her hunter liked it.

Both hands now tangled in raven locks, Madoka ended the bruising lip lock by jerking the hunter’s head back and attaching her mouth to Homura’s vulnerable neck. Altering between hot, open-mouthed kisses that branded every inch of skin and harsh bites immediately followed by apologetic licks left her prey whining brokenly. She felt the meek sounds rumbling from the hunter’s throat more than heard them, an encouraging hand previously on her hip burrowing itself into her hair, urging her to continue.

Biting and sucking viciously at the hammering pulse point, Madoka would not be satisfied until the area of her attention was an angry red, and the hunter’s whimpers were transformed into guttural moans of heady desire.

One clawed hand slid under the hunter’s shirt while Homura was distracted by the vampire once again crashing their swollen lips together. Madoka easily overpowers her partner when her wayward hand finds one hard nipple in between her forefingers, giving it a quick twist that had Homura gasping as her mouth was invaded by a hot wet presence that demanded places to explore.

Madoka’s other hand also abandoned its position in the hunter’s hair, instead deciding to curl behind her neck, nails piercing the skin and hooking into it, drawing out a choked groan. The forgotten thigh against the hunter’s center moved back into action, slowly grinding, pressing itself harder against her, driving the black-haired woman wild, muffled moans swallowed by the tongue still laying claim to her mouth. Madoka’s hand fiddled with both nipples, cruelly teasing each one before her fingers slowly went down Homura’s stomach in a gentler echo of an action taken at a previous date. Savoring the abs that twitched wherever her fingers brushed, Madoka circled her hand to come around and trail up over tense back muscles only to again viciously claw down and create angry, red lines that forced a hiss out of the hunter who had barely any breath to spare.

The grip Homura had on the vampire’s hair and waist tightened as her already frantic pulse continued to skyrocket. But she refused to pull away from this maddeningly dizzying hell she was stuck in for such a trivial reason as needing oxygen.

Even so, hearing the silent plea Madoka pulled back long enough for her partner to suck in a much-needed breath, before attacking again. This time her focus was on nipping at those delicate lips until she drew blood, licking at the wound to soothe it before even more mercilessly biting into it, the action rewarding her with another heavenly hiss. A foreign hand attempted to fondle the vampire’s chest in turn.

That would not do.

The hunter’s back was left feeling cold as the hand that was running up and down it vanished in an instant. Homura’s wrist was once again seized, Madoka using her grip on the hunter’s neck to painfully drag her face away from her own.

Dark pink, almost maroon eyes stared at the disheveled appearance in front of her. Pupils blown wide, heavy pants escaping swollen and bleeding lips, and a magnificent, slowly darkening, purple mark on the side of her neck.

“Homura-chan…” Madoka said in a deep sultry voice that nearly sent the hunter to her knees.

Nails digging deeper into the back of Homura’s neck in order to discourage her from moving, the vampire leaned in towards her ear.

“As much as it turned me on watching you kill that filthy dog, and as sexy as you are, touching me in that way is _not_ allowed.” Madoka pushed her cheek to rest against its counterpart, bringing her lips close enough to brush up against the outer shell of the ear. “Understand?”

That single breathy word sent a violent shiver down the hunter’s spine. Eyes nearly rolling into the back of her skull, Homura couldn’t contain the shuddered breath that tore out of her. A weak nod and her fate was sealed.

“Good~”

Homura only caught a glimpse of the downright lecherous grin on the vampire’s face before she felt a moment of weightlessness followed by a grunt as her stinging back was slammed against a tree. Her arms were similarly pushed above her head, pinned there by an iron grip around her wrists. Her left arm’s injury flared up in tandem with the numerous scratches on her back at the non-too gentle action.

No time was given to collect her bearings as her head was pushed back into the rough bark by an insistent press of lips against hers, any discomfort quickly forgotten when a persistent tongue invaded her mouth, leaving her whimpering in its wake. The sound of cloth being torn accompanied by the feeling of the cold night air on her chest told Homura her shirt had been rendered useless. Her right breast was ruthlessly squeezed, nails dragging over the sensitive point, her gasp swallowed by the vampire's incessant kiss. Once again biting on the barely scabbing over lower lip, Madoka pulled at it before letting go and switching to nibble on an ear. Homura’s arms were clenching and straining against their confines, panting heavily and body pushing forward for more contact.

“Don’t you _dare_ move your arms.” The uncharacteristic, lust-filled growl of a command from the pink-haired vampire reverberated through the hunter’s entire being, hands automatically latching onto a small branch nearby once they were released.

Finally, with both hands free, Madoka immediately attacked the forgotten breast in a similar fashion to its abused sister. Tongue dragging down, tasting the salty sweat rolling down Homura’s neck, the vampire bit into the side that remained unmarked, eager to rectify her mistake.

Her right hand traveled further down, surprisingly feather-light touches further fanning the fire in the hunter’s lower abdomen. Once satisfied with her work on Homura’s neck, the vampire began to kiss and bite down her collarbone before her mouth wrapped around a nipple, pulling and sucking, fangs nearly puncturing the tender flesh. The resulting moan, nearly a scream, was music to her ears. At the same time, Madoka’s hand finally reached the hunter’s pants, grabbing at the waistline. She tore them down as easily as she had done the shirt and without hesitation pressed hard through the cloth of the underwear, against the bundle of nerves at the beginning of her conquest.

Homura’s head cracked as it sprung back hitting the tree behind her. She was nearly delirious from the intoxicating mixture of pleasure and pain this woman was instilling in her. Her arms shook with the effort of remaining in their position, hips pushing forward against that hand that was so deliciously close to where she needed it most.

Madoka released the nipple she had in her mouth with a pop, slowly kissing her way back up until she again bit down on her prey’s ear.

“You’re so wet for me.” The vampire’s pleased moan was mirrored. “Tell me, what do you want Homura-chan~?” The tease was accompanied by a slow sensual tongue dragging against her lover’s cheek.

“Madoka…” Homura could only groan when that hand pushed the soaked cloth aside and ran her fingers through her folds.

“Yes, baby~?” Fangs playfully danced against the outer shell of her ear.

“ _Fuck me already_ ,” Homura practically growled, any feelings of shame long abandoned.

“Say please like a good girl,” the smirking devil at her side whispered, a thumb gently teasing her clit, rubbing it at a slow, infuriating pace.

For some ungodly reason, Homura resisted, if only for the space of a breath. Madoka, sensing the minuscule hesitation, pressed harder, nail daring to scrape along that sensitive bud.

“Please- Ah!“ The desperate, wondrously submissive keen of the word was barely out of the hunter’s mouth before two fingers were harshly shoved inside her.

The pace was relentless from the very start. The frequent gasps and moans that escaped her lips grew in volume with cries for _more_ and _harder_ joining the chorus of sounds once Madoka’s thumb began to rub that sensitive bud alongside the violent thrusts.

Curling her fingers just so, the vampire grabbed Homura’s chin, sealing their lips together and trapping the resulting cry between their mouths. A third digit joined, stretching the wet folds further, and Madoka matched her thrusts to the pace set by those thrashing hips. Before ending the kiss, Madoka’s hand moved to tightly close around the hunter’s throat and cut off the breath Homura would have otherwise taken. She tightened her grip to a painful degree, wanting to better feel the thundering pulse underneath her fingers. The action only served to heighten Homura’s senses and drive her closer to the edge.

“Look at me.” The demand was impossible to ignore. Some primal need to obey urged Homura to open her eyes, although with her mind clouded by the building pressure and view littered with dark spots she could hardly focus on the face in front of her.

“You belong to _me,_ ” Madoka said, her thrusts growing impossibly faster, harsher, deeper. “You are mine to do with as I please, understand?”

The three skillful fingers stabbing deeply into her core, the palm pushing hard against her throbbing clit, her swimming vision, and the alluring voice that lay claim on her life, all of those things combined were too much for the hunter to take. The tension in her body snapped alongside the branch Homura had been clutching onto for dear life, her vision and thoughts filled with nothing but pink, _pink, **pink.**_

Wishing to hear her name screamed out, Madoka quickly loosened her grip on Homura’s throat.

She wasn't disappointed.

It was the first thing that came out of the hunter’s mouth once she took in some much-needed oxygen. Her fingers did not cease their movement, wanting to keep Homura at her peak for as long as possible, arm preemptively circling around her waist to press their bodies close and act as an anchor for when Homura’s taut body would undoubtedly collapse in exhaustion.

Coming down from her high, Homura’s mistreated throat released a hoarse whine seeing Madoka bring her soaked fingers upwards to lick them clean before she lowered her forehead to rest against the vampire’s shoulder, standing on her shaking legs only thanks to the deceptively strong arm that wrapped around her.

Giving the hunter some time to recover, Madoka hummed a cherished tune while soothingly running her fingers through Homura’s hair.

“Let’s get out of here, shall we?” Madoka said a few minutes later, gathering Homura into her arms and beginning to walk at a leisurely pace. “A clearing in a forest is no place to sleep.”

“Wait,” the hunter fought through the tiredness that threatened to close her eyes, “I have to retrieve my dagger.”

“Hmm? It’s just a dagger, Homura-chan. I can even get you a new one if you really want.” Madoka’s dismissal triggered a worn-out but hate-filled growl that gave her pause, the vampire’s arms squeezed the body against her tighter when it started to struggle in vain to escape.

“Alright, alright,” she conceded hurriedly, turning around and heading towards the corpse of the werewolf. “Your wish is my command, Homura-chan~”

They both knew that was a blatant lie.

* * *

**Omake 1.**

Many, many years ago:

Madoka stared at her would-be lover's corpse, bloody holes going clean through their neck.

“Oh, goddamn it.”

Mami suddenly appeared at the scene of the crime as if she had been there from the start, sighing in disappointment. "Madoka-chan I told you to control your strength better in the art of love-making! People are delicate."

**Omake 2.**

The sound of cloth being torn and her shirt being rendered usele- the kiss was broken and Madoka's lips pulled down into a frown. "Uh-oh."

"W-what?" There was a slight tugging sensation below her.

"I… I think my nails are stuck."

Homura stared. "How is that even possible."

"I don't know!" Madoka’s hand struggled against the material, but it was useless, the shirt just wouldn't give in. "What is this shirt made out of?!"

A pause.

"Plot armor."

"...Homura-chan, I'm going to slap you the second I free my hand."

**Omake 3.**

Mami watched from afar with a pair of binoculars, sniffling and occasionally dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. "I'm so proud of her. She managed not to kill this one."

Kyoko was restrained and forced to sit next to the crying vampire. "WHY AM I HERE?! I DON'T WANT TO SEE THIS!"

"Don't be jealous, you'll get your turn," Mami said, still looking through the binoculars.

Kyoko was nearly foaming at the mouth. "NO! I DON'T WANT TO SEE MY BEST FRIEND BEING FUCKED SILLY BY YOUR SADISTIC LITTLE KOHAI WHILE YOU SATE YOUR VOYEURISTIC FANTASIES, DAMN IT!"


	3. Hidden Demons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mind the timeline

The morning’s saving grace was the cloudy skies. No sun to beat down on her and make her sweat bullets, thank god, plus it was cold enough for her trench coat to keep her nice and warm instead of feeling like a furnace.

Slinging her spear across her back, Kyoko set out into the city to begin her day.

After a lot of convincing and arguing she was finally able to force Homura to sit still and rest while she dealt with things. Stubborn bitch was one day gonna keel over dead somewhere, especially with how reckless she was unless Kyoko was there to knock her out first.

The couple of things she had to do were easy anyway. Go meet an informant that would give her the whereabouts of the two werewolves they were hunting and stock up on Grief Seeds - the name of the potion Homura relied on was a very appropriate one, for it brought nothing but grief to their pockets with how expensive it was.

Buzzing her lips in annoyance, Kyoko did not look forward to her encounter with Mitakihara’s lunatic of a doctor. His building reeked of blood and was covered from bottom to top in animal cages that just further stank up the place. How he kept his business going with such poor sanitary work she’d never know.

Who was she kidding, Kyoko grinned to herself, of course, she fucking knew how. Mitakihara was one of the biggest cities on the island, a place that attracted all sorts of bastards from all over the world. The streets were constantly brimming with activity from humans, ghouls, goblins, centaurs, lamias, you fucking name it and it’ll appear.

Looking around in disinterest at all the citizens as they went about their day, she couldn’t help but scoff.

Idiots, all of ‘em, willing to live in ignorance in order to keep themselves as safe as possible, as if that’d fuckin’ help ‘em. No one dared to question why walking through the alleys in the dead of night was a death wish or why in a city as big as this there was only one doctor. Kyoko knew damn well it wasn’t for a lack of competition.

Mitakihara’s dark underbelly was the primary reason for its popularity, after all.

Spotting her destination Kyoko quickened her steps and entered the Rosso Fantasm, one of the larger bars in the area, to meet up with her “acquaintance”. Casar Alanis was an expert in the arts of information gathering, someone Kyoko had been lucky to get the attention of. A trader of knowledge for knowledge, that’s how he built his connections that spread from the town further out and through the entire land. The folder hidden against her chest was her payment for today’s arrangement.

Her lips twisted into a mockery of a smile when she remembered who exactly the folder was about. Betrayal was the name of the game and the man who was dumb enough to trust her was about to get an unpleasant visit from people he was desperately running away from. She _almost_ felt bad, but well, her feelings of chivalry had died a long time ago alongside--

Nope, cut that thought off at the knees.

Her smirk instantly disappeared at the images that crept up on her. She glared around the bustling establishment to find her target, other customers moving away when they caught sight of her aggressive posture.

Finally spotting him at the far end she started walking towards the sets of tables, empty save for him. Mind still struggling with boxing up and shoving away unpleasant memories, she failed to move out of the way of an upcoming body and bumped into it, nearly sending both tumbling.

Snarling, she spat out an annoyed warning to watch it at the blonde woman before continuing on her way, paying no further attention to the eyes on her back.

The transparent person that was seated, or rather who was floating in front of her watched silently as Kyoko placed her spear beside the chair, sat down with far less grace than what she usually tried to portray and slapped the folder on the table between them.

Yeah, that’s right, her contact was a motherfucking ghost. When you hear that word you’d probably instantly think of vengeful spirits and such, right? That naive way of thinking almost made her want to laugh now, especially since she had also been one to think like that in the past. Nah, this one was just a stuck up old dude with a lot of street cred and information that he was willing to give out, if only for a price because _of course._

“Don’t worry,” Kyoko grinned at the unimpressed look that was shot her way, “it’s enchanted specifically so you can put your poor little wispy fingers on it.”

“I believe we had already agreed on the method you are to use for information trading, Sakura,” Casar said, listlessly flipping through the contents of the file to ensure everything he had requested was there before closing and crossing his hands on top of it.

“Well, tough luck, I couldn’t get a crystal so you’re going to have to do some old fashioned reading for once,” Kyoko fired back, signaling a waiter for a glass of water and a burger with fries. She would have gotten something alcoholic to help her get a buzz going so she could better deal with her next task, but Homura had forbidden her of such drinks as punishment for making her sit out on today’s activities. Damn killjoy didn’t even appreciate all the shit Kyoko went through to keep her safe and alive.

Casar quirked an eyebrow. “A tad irritated today aren’t we?”

“Want a cookie for your observation skills, Sherlock?” Kyoko crossed her arms. “Besides, I’m doing ya a favor! Can’t have you forget how to use your brain, especially in your old age.”

“I only tolerate your attitude because I find it intriguing how someone like you was able to get as far as you have in this type of business.” His tone bordering on parental exasperation made her want to gag. “But remember that you are still a novice no matter what you may think, and your attitude will not fly with everyone. This is not like your Hunter job where you simply go out and kill your problems.”

“Tch, I fucking know that, Casper boy! I didn’t ‘get as far as I did’ by being dumb!” Kyoko snapped. Negotiation talks were never her strong suit, Homura’s frosty persona was much more suited for this type of thing. Unfortunately, her bluntness made for shitty attempts at sweet talk, though, which more often than not left Kyoko to be the one to test her patience against silver-tongued holier than thou crimelords with sticks shoved so far up their asses they probably tickled at their brains. Would explain why they kept on laughing like Disney villains.

Wow, that was long-winded, even for her. She was definitely more ticked off than she thought.

“Then practice your intelligence and rein in your temper for the foreseeable future.”

Kyoko snapped back to awareness as Casar continued to push his advice, which stomped out Kyoko’s irritation like a foot to a cigarette bud.

“And why should I do that all of a sudden?” She probed, feeling unease slither down her spine. “You’ve never cared before.”

“That’s because I knew whoever you’d happen to anger usually wouldn’t be able to kill you, not with that partner of yours watching your back,” he said with a dismissing wave.

“So, what changed?”

He stayed silent.

Kyoko frowned, hating how she had to pull the answer out of him with a crowbar. “Has some big-shot come to skulk around?”

The continued silence even after her second attempt at getting an answer dragged on long enough for Kyoko to nearly start yelling at him to pipe the hell up.

“Mistress Tomoe has arrived back in town alongside her friend for a small vacation,” Casar finally admitted, his tone making Kyoko tense up even further. She knew the ghost had been around for much longer than her and had to respect his experience on these types of matters no matter how much she hated it.

“Tomoe and a friend, huh?” She said with feigned nonchalance, digging into the food that had just been placed in front of her. “You mind giving me a bit more than a name I’ve already heard from various wimpy underlings? Describing their appearance would be a nice start.”

“Hah! if I gave away what I know freely I wouldn’t have a business now would I?” The fucker grinned, making her grit her teeth as her anger quickly returned at his bullshitting. “I will not tell you anything more than what you came here for unless we make another deal,” the mocking tone made it clear that wasn’t an option even before he continued, “but as you do not have access to the items that I require I simply cannot be bothered with using your services. Be grateful I’m even accepting this.”

“Better read it quickly then.” Kyoko tried not to sulk at the reminder of how far out of her depth she was even after two and a half years. Not knowing shit was _dangerous_ and it infuriated her that she lacked insight into something so obviously important. “That enchantment won’t last forever.”

“Duly noted,” Casar said, eyes flickering to look behind her for a split second before settling back onto her.

“Now, as for the brother wolves you’re searching for.” Those words had the redhead abruptly cease eating, sharp eyes trained on the speaker with fiery intensity.

This hunt was going to pay even better than usual - the targets were highly sought after and being able to beat other Hunters to them was not a chance she was going to waste.

“My associates have got wind they might be hunting in the nearby forest that separates this city from the next.” His words were curt and to the point.

“Oi, give me some specifics, damn it.” Kyoko gritted out, nearly slamming her hand against the table’s surface in frustration. “Two days from now? A week? You ain’t gonna make us camp out every night for god knows how long in order to catch ‘em are ya?”

“I cannot tell you when they would want to hunt something themselves as opposed to simply ordering a meal at a restaurant, Sakura. I can only say that they are going to be staying here for no longer than until the end of this month.”

So not only were they relying heavily on luck, but they also had a goddamn time limit too. Fan-fucking-tastic.

Shoving down her displeasure alongside the last bites of her meal, Kyoko carelessly tossed the required amount of money out of her pockets, leaving them to rattle insistently on the wood while she stood up and returned her weapon onto her back.

Turning to leave, Kyoko glared at the person to her left who was seated behind the chair she had just vacated.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed your shit attempt at eavesdropping, blondie.” Kyoko said in the most patronizing tone she could muster. The golden curls of the woman calmly sipping tea were unmistakable, it was the person she had previously bumped into. Did she think Kyoko was stupid or something?! “Fuck off, I ain’t in the mood to deal with whatever kiddy graded grudge you may have from me simply running into ya!”

Ignoring the chortle from Casar’s direction, Kyoko stalked towards the exit of the establishment, needing to get away and cool down before she had to deal with her second headache of the day. To think this was the more pleasant errand of the two, what a joke.

Thankfully the trip uptown was uneventful enough for her to calm down significantly, barring the annoyingly insistent street sellers that almost made her want to put her boot up their asses.

Kyoko withheld a groan at the horrid smell that greeted her at the front steps of the building. Nose scrunching up, she reluctantly stepped past the door frame, ignoring the slightly painful albeit morbid desire of wanting to set everything inside on fire, if only to cleanse the city of this atrocious tumor.

Various tortured sounds invaded her ears making her flesh crawl and hands clench hard enough to leave crescents on her palms. The faster she got what she needed the faster she could get the hell out of there.

“Oi, where the hell are ya you creep!” Kyoko had to yell to get her voice heard over all the damn noise. Seriously, how did he finish any type of work?!

“A customer? Just a momeeeeeent!” Ugh, the high pitched sing-song drawl never got any less disgusting to listen to.

“Hurry up!” Kyoko said impatiently.

Red eyes glanced at the various cages that surrounded her, mouth pulling down in disgust. This one had too many eyes, that one didn’t have enough of ‘em, the legless one was pitiful to look at while the one next to it looked like it could rip her open for breakfast. Her boot tapped on the floor, mindful of the countless tools carelessly left to lay on the ground.

“Ah Miss Kyoko.” The man in a plain white lab coat said pleasantly, appearing from the back door near the counter with a flourish. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I’m only here for your Grief Seeds and then I’m out, you know the drill. I don’t want to stay here any longer than I need to.” Kyoko crossed her arms, eyes tearing away from the monstrosities put on display. She entertained the thought of sending one of the werewolves she was hunting over to him in a cage of their very own, maybe get a discount or somethin’ for it, but then again, she wouldn’t want even her most hated enemy to be left at this loon’s mercy. Hell, even she had _some_ standards left.

“Oh no, oh dear,” he looked around theatrically, “I’m so very sorry Miss Kyoko but I don’t have any in stock at the moment.”

What.

“What.” Kyoko voiced her thoughts in the most impassive way she could muster. Getting violent with this madman would do her no good, but God was it hard not to reach out and strangle him with his own waist-length hair that looked like it had gone through an electrical socket.

“Yes, yes no Grief Seeds for you today. Come by in a couple of days, in the meantime, why don’t you buy something else instead? We just got a fresh delivery of-”

“Shut up,” Kyoko couldn’t resist the growl of anger. “I don’t want to listen to your damn sales pitch again. I’ll come again later.”

Storming out, the hunter took a breath of the fresh air in a sorry attempt to ease her nerves, but the previously successful action failed her, for obvious reasons. Squinting at the now clear skies, the no longer obscured sun subsequently caused the temperature to rise to uncomfortable degrees. Wasted all of her damn time and now she had to trod the long walk back to her apartment. Joy.

With the damn Grief Seeds leaving them in a tight spot they had no choice but to rent a shitty apartment in an even shittier neighborhood. Graffiti everywhere you looked, was that blood or piss you couldn’t even fucking tell, a drunk here and a bawling kid there, where the hell were their parents? Probably fucking dead. The building they currently lived at was a cist fest and the walls were paper fucking thin, did that mean you could hear the neighbours having sex? Yes, good luck sleeping through that shit.

God Kyoko couldn’t wait till they got their paycheck and hauled ass.

By the time she neared her sorry excuse of a building she was tired, sweaty from the heat, cursing, and ready to take a break so _of course_ that meant her day just had to get worse as soon as she opened the door to their apartment. Instead of sighing in relief like any other normal person would have when getting home after a long day she only got ticked off even more when she saw what her roommate was doing.

“You know damn well this isn’t what I meant when I told you to fucking _rest_!” Kyoko spat out, throwing her spear and coat in the closet opposite the door that was filled to the brim with all kinds of guns and ammunition.

“I am merely keeping up my regime. You’re the one who continuously harps on about keeping in shape.” Homura’s monotonous reply only served to infuriate her further, to the point she wondered how the veins in her neck hadn’t popped from the blood pressure.

Walking further into the living room Kyoko suppressed a growl as she loomed over her friend who was in the process of completing a push-up.

“One missed day won’t kill ya, unlike your heart you goddamn stubborn--” The insult never got to be said as Homura cut her off by gracefully rising up to meet anger incarnate head-on.

“Calm down before you’re the one to pass out, your face is as red as your hair. You have more now, do you not?” She said, arms crossed and dull eyes slightly looking up to meet the angry pair. Any other day their height difference would have made Kyoko smirk in amusement.

“Yea…” instead Kyoko’s lips pulled down into a grimace, anger instantly doused, “about that.”

A beat of silence.

“...How unfortunate.” If you hadn’t known Homura you wouldn’t have been able to spot the hint of nervousness in her voice or the slight shake of her hands as they reached for the water bottle sitting on the coffee table nearby. Unfortunately for her, Kyoko has been with her pretty much since childhood.

“He said he’ll have ‘em soon tho.” A quick reassurance, as much for Homura’s own sake as it was for Kyoko herself. “Gotta check back in like two days.”

“Hm.”

“Ghosty told me the two shits will be making a nuisance of themselves in the forest between the cities,” Kyoko sighed, moving to flop down on the couch. “Didn’t tell me when, so I’m gonna be forced to scout the place every damn night till the end of the month.”

“You mean ‘we’.” Homura scowled at Kyoko, capping the bottle with more force than necessary after taking a swing.

“I said what I said, smarty pants. You ain’t going anywhere until we get some new Grief Seeds in ya.”

“What’s running through my blood already will suffice, as I already told you this morning.”

“I don’t give a fuck what you say when it comes to your own health, idiot.”

“Kyoko I am not going to let you go and risk running into them on your own.”

“Even if I do, they’ll be split up.”

“If the other isn’t preoccupied he will come to his brother’s aid and you know it.”

“I can handle ‘em.” Kyoko crossed her legs and carelessly waved a hand.

“Not alone you can’t.” Homura’s grip on the poor plastic container tightened.

“Damn it Homura, I’m not letting you tag along!” Kyoko exploded, standing up as her anger was once again reignited. She was going to get an aneurysm one of these days. “How many push-ups did you manage to do, huh?” The twitch in Homura’s jaw was enough of a confirmation. “Yea, that’s what I fucking thought.”

Before Kyoko could even blink, though she did plenty of blinking after, Homura’s thumb unscrewed the water bottle’s cap and squeezed the contents right in the redhead’s eyes.

Left sputtering at the unexpected action, Kyoko was quickly left sprawling right back on the couch when Homura’s fist connected to her cheek.

“I can handle myself,” Homura repeated her own words back at her, sounding smug as all hell.

Kyoko stared in shock before proceeding to cackle like a madwoman.

“Fuck you and your cheap tricks, you ass!” She grinned widely after calming down. “Fine, we probably won’t run into them the first night anyway.”

“We can only pray,” Homura smirked back.

* * *

Elsewhere, in an extravagant loft high above the skyline that was growing orange with the setting sun, a certain golden-haired figure stood in front of the floor to ceiling window intently staring out into the city as if she could make her eyes look through all the walls that blocked her view and be able to pinpoint the exact reason for her ire.

“What has you so thoughtful, Mami-san~?” The melodic voice’s inquiry pulled Mami out of her reverie.

Slightly twisting her head to the side, her gaze passed over the needlessly expensive room and its furniture to land on the pink-haired woman reclining on a ludicrously comfortable loveseat, hugging a heart-shaped pillow to her chest.

“Nothing important, Madoka. Just an encounter I had earlier in the day.”

“Oh~? Then it _is_ important if it has you still thinking about it,” Madoka said with a grin.

Gleefully springing up from her seat to skip over to her friend with the pillow still clutched in her hands she stared at Mami with eyes silently pleading for gossip and rocking back and forth on her feet. Honestly, the downright childish acts were unbecoming of someone of Madoka’s age and upbringing but nonetheless they made Mami’s lips quirk up in a smile.

“A redhead I’ve never seen before ran into me while I went to have a drink at the Rosso Fantasm.” Madoka exaggeratedly leaned forward even though Mami knew she could hear her perfectly fine. “I ended up being seated behind her and while waiting for my tea I overheard her speaking with Casar about a pair of werewolves who will be hunting in the forest for the rest of the month.’’

“‘’Ended up” huh~?” Madoka echoed, obviously hinting at Mami’s unsaid ulterior motives.

“But of course.” Mami easily played along, quite used to their little game. “Why would I ever stoop so low as to spy on someone in an establishment meant for relaxation?”

“And what happened next?” The question was comparable to that of a child asking for their bedtime story to be continued.

“She wrapped her meeting up and then addressed me with such a foul tone, accusing me of holding a grudge against her when _she_ was the one to bump into _me_ ,” Mami harrumphed, earning a laugh.

“So, what do you plan to do with this oh so disrespectful mystery person~?” Madoka asked in a teasing tone once her chuckles died down.

“She’ll be patrolling the woods for the mutts,” Mami said after a brief contemplative silence. “This ‘Sakura’ is most definitely a Hunter, seeing as she lugged around that giant spear of hers. She also seemed like a very impatient person so I would not be surprised if she went out tonight in hopes of catching them as quickly as possible.”

“A nightly romp in the woods, is it~?” Madoka’s childish air was replaced with something much more sinister. The instantaneous switch would have caught anyone else off guard, but Mami knew quite well what lurked behind that seemingly innocent smile. “Mind if I join?”

“Please, feel free. Sakura spoke in plural so I highly doubt she will be alone.”

“Even better~”

* * *

**Omake 1:**

Inspired by “The Crush Song” by Twaimz [author recommends watching to get the full image]

Homura opened her eyes and found herself in some kind of dark room. Looking around, she was about to start moving to find a way out before being briefly blinded when the area was suddenly bathed in light.

Blinking the spots out of her eyes, Homura froze in apprehension when she saw Madoka standing a little ways away with a catlike smile on her face.

Desperately searching for her weapons while keeping her eyes trained on the person in front of her she quickly came to the conclusion that she was completely unarmed.

Uh-oh.

“Hush hush hush, blush blush blush~” The vampire for some odd reason began singing a song Homura could have sworn she had heard somewhere before.

“U-um..?” Homura stuttered in mounting befuddlement as Madoka stalked towards her, hips swaying to a beat only she could hear.

“You are now my big fat crush~”

“What?!” Completely forgetting the type of job she has been doing for years, Homura attempted to move away in the face of the predator, only to instead step even closer to the danger in startlement when the back of her knees hit a chair that had suddenly appeared behind her.

“I'm single as I can be,” Madoka continued with a wide smile, circling around her prey with featherlight touches across her shoulders and back. “ You're single, perfect for me.”

Feeling hopelessly confused and turned on, Homura frantically glanced around looking for help from Kyoko or hell, even Mami.

“I'm gonna give you a bunch of reasons why you should date me.” The hunter was pushed to sit down on the chair by the vampire still lurking behind her.

“Reason number one - I'm super hot.” Madoka walked back in front of Homura, hands trailing up her own legs, feeling up her breasts and then losing themselves into her hair, a seductive bite of the lip and a wink leaving Homura’s mouth dry.

“Reason number two - she’s super not.” Madoka abruptly pulled out a photo of Kyoko and proceeded to light it on fire.

The whiplash between the actions almost made Homura mindlessly start to reassure the vampire that she and Kyoko were not a couple before she caught herself. Madoka let go of the burning paper in favor of perching sideways on Homura’s lap.

“Reason number three - I'm all you got.” Madoka ran her fingers through her captive’s hair. “And all you got is someone hot.” That part of the impromptu song was a mere whisper as she teasingly brushed their lips together for a not quite kiss.

“Girl check my résumé, you want a background check? Okay.” Pulling away, Madoka repositioned, swinging her legs on either side of Homura’s hips bringing their bodies as close as possible.

“First name hot, and last name bitch. Wanna get with me? Now that's the sitch.” Nimble hands produced a blindfold out of nowhere, wrapping it around Homura’s head and once again enveloping her in darkness.

“People say I'm trash. Hell no, I'm class and I got a big fat ass~” At this, the vampire guided Homura’s hands to rest against the aforementioned body part to give it a tight squeeze. The hunter’s face burned.

“And all I gotta say is…”

The permanent grin that had been on Madoka’s face since the beginning vanished completely as she seized Homura’s throat in a tight stranglehold, a gesture that was growing disturbingly familiar to the blindfolded hunter.

“Please date me,” the sweetly poisonous words were completely sarcastic, “because I'm single. S-I-N-G-L-E.”

“I’ll love you.” Madoka’s hold loosened just enough to allow Homura the ability to gulp in ~~excitement~~ nervousness.

“And hug you.” Homura’s lips were kissed softly, a playful tongue coming out to get a taste as well.

“And touch you.” She sucked in a breath when a hand shoved itself under her shirt to fondle her breast.

“And, well, fuck you.” Madoka hotly breathed the final lyrics in Homura’s ear, dragging her tongue along the edge. Her hips moved forward to grind against the hunter’s groin making them both moan out, the guttural sound that was so near made Homura’s eyes flutter shut in bliss even though they werecovered by the blindfold.

“Girl, you think love isn’t a game and it drives me really insane.” A harsh nibble on one of Homura’s earlobes.

“Well, I'm gonna give you a few more reasons why you should date me.” A kiss on the cheek and a gentle boop on the nose.

“Reason number four.” Madoka briefly returned her attention to Homura's mouth. “I got a sexy smile.”

“I know you like it~”

“Reason number five.” Pulling harshly on raven locks, Madoka quickly bit onto the hunter’s neck when her head jerked back and left her exposed. “I got more personality than all your types.” The snarl her actions produced pulled Madoka’s lips into a sharp grin.

“Walking through the woods to see your pretty face~” The bite mark was apologetically nuzzled.

“I said, "Hey can you be the Troy to my Gabriella?" Said apologetic action lost its meaning fairly quickly when the insistent nipping and sucking reappeared on the other side of Homura’s neck, dragging a second groan from the back of her throat.

“La, la, la love me~” And once again Homura’s shirt was destroyed.

Her protests transformed into a heavy hiss of pain when the mouth that attacked her own used its sharp fangs to savagely rip into the soft flesh, drawing blood to be eagerly lapped up by the perpetrator’s tongue before it shoved its way past her teeth.

Madoka managed to somehow wretch herself away from Homura’s addictive lips in order to continue her song, “Your love is my drug can't you see~?”, taking great satisfaction in the needy whines their separation caused.

“I love you, why don't you love me?” Madoka enhanced the rejection portrayed by the lyrics by further distancing herself, keeping Homura from following by forcing her arms behind the chair and cuffing them in place. The hunter could not even begin to question where that item came from as Madoka’s hands trailed up the restrained limbs to dig into her shoulders.

“Invisible to everybody. I’m sick and tired of this shit, I just want a relationship.” The vampire mourned theatrically, letting crocodile tears build up in her eyes knowing they won’t be seen but still heard in the trembling of her voice.

Homura had a split second of feeling torn between wanting to comfort the woman and knowing it was all an act before she felt Madoka once again switch gears back to that suffocating predatory presence.

“All I gotta say is~” Madoka then brings her face next to Homura’s ear and whispers, “third time’s the charm,” before biting into her neck again, this time actually puncturing the skin. “Mmm, you’re delicious~”

The lyrics resumed. “Please date me because I'm single.” Nails painfully clawing their way from the shoulders to the chest.

“S-I-N-G-L-E~” She angled Homura’s chin up for another rough kiss to reopen the barely healed wound.

“I’ll love you.” A pinch and a twist to the nipples leaving the hunter begging.

“And hug you.” Hands purposely trailing down at a slow pace to have her tremble in anticipation as Madoka crouched in front of her tied up and panting lover.

“And touch you.” Skillful fingers undoing the pants’ belt and beginning to tug them down, actions growing more excited by the minute as Homura’s hips pushed up, a whisper of a plea on her lips.

“And, well--”

“NO!”

That furious shout abruptly brought the world back into focus. Madoka was grabbed and thrown away from Homura who couldn’t completely stop herself from voicing her displeasure at the interruption.

“Hold up wait a minute!”

The blindfold was ripped off of her and out of all the things, Homura’s clouded mind was not prepared for an angry Kyoko Sakura to start singing as well while standing in front of her like some sort of human shield.

“You think she’s just a toy?!” Kyoko pointed a finger at Madoka who was sprawled on the floor still trying to collect her bearings.

“Well you are just a vampire and your love is a decoy.” Her voice was surprisingly high pitched.

Homura wondered if she had gone insane.

“I really think you need some help.” The redhead was really getting into it, wagging her finger and moving her hips to and fro.

“Cause now she’s taken by myself.” W-what?!

“And I'm gonna give you a bunch of reasons why she lo-ove’s me.” Kyoko’s grin was feral.

“Reason number one - I'm super hot.” Homura could have sworn Kyoko whispered ‘literally’ after that line.

“Reason number two - you're super not.” The vampire that had just now begun to stand, scoffed in disbelief at that.

“Reason number three - I’m all she got and all she got is someone hot!” The flexing of her arms was completely unnecessary but the action was made anyway.

“Girl check your résumé, you want a background check? Okay.” Kyoko brought out her spear, giving it an excessive amount of twirls before swinging it around to point the tip at Madoka.

“First name no and last name thanks,” she continued, starting to walk forward, forcing the vampire back least she wanted to be impaled.

“Wanna get with her, you lost your place! You think you own everyone but she don't belong to anyone.” Madoka almost passed the door frame.

“And all I gotta say is…” Kyoko quickly retracted her spear and swung her leg out instead.

“ _Fuck you._ ” She finished, quite literally booting the intruder out.

The door slammed shut in Madoka’s face and Homura woke up with a start. Breathing heavily she sat up, her still sleep-addled mind stuck on being irrationally angry at Kyoko for managing to somehow cockblock her in her dreams.

**Omake 2:**

Kyoko is seen slumped over the coffee table with an empty beer bottle hanging from one of her hands.

Homura walks into the room with a glass of water, having just come from the kitchen.

Noticing her best friend moaning pitifully about the awful day she’d had, Homura was inexplicably seized with great displeasure that made her vacate the room, leaving one simple sentence hanging in the air in her wake.

“That’s rough buddy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Could it be... plot?!


	4. Full Circle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mind the timeline pt. 2

“Now, good morning to you, Nightmare~ Not yet, not yet~” 

Madoka loved that her beloved lullaby was applicable to any situation. It may have not been anywhere near to morning but they had yet to find the hunter Mami was after, and it was a nightmare to continue acting as if she was still as interested as she was when they first set out on their mission.

Honestly, Mami insisting on going out as soon as the moon appeared bespoke impatience from the blonde that she rarely got to see. It was quite endearing, really.

Madoka was in the middle of a twirl when the sound of a pair of voices reached her ears. Shooting a curious look at Mami, she was relieved at the nod indicating they had finally found them.

Time to see who had caught her friend’s attention.

Hopping silently to land on the branches of the trees around them they creeped closer until they could clearly see and hear their targets. Two hunters sitting by the gentle glow of a campfire. A red-headed woman in a pony-tail with a giant spear resting beside her who was surely the one Mami had ran into, but who caught Madoka’s eye was her gorgeous raven-haired companion who had but a single dagger strapped to her left bicep, surely not her only weapon?

“Kyoko, I understand you are doing this on purpose but can you be just a little quieter?”

“Nope! What’s the point of goin’ out in the woods if you can’t yell a little?”

Madoka cocked her head to the side in curiosity when the pretty purple eyed one sighed in exasperation. A slower heart beat, a condition perhaps~? Oh my, another point for her. Was that why ‘Kyoko’ was being loud? To drive away the predators, the very werewolves they were hunting? That seemed awfully counterproductive but so adorably overprotective. 

Mami moved to interrupt them but Madoka kept her in place with a hand. No, no. That wouldn’t do. She wanted to listen a bit more, get a grasp on what kinds of people they were, relaxed conversations like these were priceless.

“If this is the only night they decide to go out, I am never speaking to you again.”

“Don’t be dramatic, Homura,” Kyoko laughed and slapped her friend’s back.

Oh? _Homura_ , huh~? She just kept getting more and more appealing! 

“I’ll let ya be a nuisance to the population once we get those Grief Seeds, I promise.”

The second sigh of exasperation once again made more evident the slower beat of her heart. So she wasn’t at her full strength, was she? Madoka could hardly pass up on this opportunity - if Homura could keep up with her in her current condition then she would be perfect. The notion brought an admittedly bloodthirsty smile to her face.

Mami had noticed the gradual change in her demeanor and now hung back with an expectant stare. Madoka met her friend’s eyes and simply pointed towards Homura. The message was clear:

‘I want to speak with that one in private.’

Mami breathed out as if she knew this was coming. She and Homura would definitely get along~

They sprang towards the hunters as one, intent on splitting them up. They were ready! Of course, Madoka would have been so very disappointed otherwise.

That no doubt silver tipped spear was swung in her direction while Mami was briefly kept at bay by the pair of handguns Homura had pulled out. Side stepping, Madoka pushed the weapon further away by slapping her palm against its hilt and turning to switch with Mami. After all, Kyoko was not who she was after.

Madoka had to dodge a pair of bullets that were aimed straight for her head. My, my, shooting when she was still so close to her friend? So confident in her aim. Putting a burst of speed she darted past the hunter to grab her by the back of her collar and throw her away from the clearing and further into the woods. 

Settling in a game of cat and mouse, Madoka listened intently to Homura’s heaving breaths and the stuttering heartbeat underneath them. Growling tired already? She was not able to think too much about it as the hunter did something that would leave a permanent impression on her.

Darting her eyes back and forth, Homura gripped her guns tight before managing to predict where Madoka would go and proceeding to _throw_ one of the weapons at her. Blinking in stupefaction she merely tilted her head and let it pass her by, only to have to then immediately twist her body to the side to not get shot in the heart, _and then_ lean her head back so her neck wouldn’t be impaled by a throwing knife, the movement not done fast enough resulting in the sharp edges leaving a bleeding red line against her throat.

Amazing... Such fast reflexes and willingness to give up her own weaponry, all riding on Madoka just being too cocky to bother dodging? If she wasn’t as fast as she was it would have worked too!

Once again picking up speed, Madoka blurred towards the surprised hunter and kicked her back, hearing a satisfying crack. She made sure to hold back enough to not break them. It wouldn’t do to kill this one, oh no.

In an impressive show of atheism that would surely cost her greatly, Homura managed to roll straight back up on her feet and fire blindly. It missed completely, but A for effort~ 

Spying the abandoned Church in the distance Madoka grinned. How fitting for the place their fates intertwined to be a holy one.

* * *

Mami crouched low to dodge the upcoming side swing, bringing her leg into a sweep. The red-head jumped over it allowing Mami to quickly come up, faster than any human could and palm strike the hunter back, taking all of her breath and making her crumble on the ground.

Kyoko’s recovery was swift, eyes still trained in the direction Madoka had taken the other one. She had been distracted the entire time, concern for her ailing friend keeping her from fighting properly.

“Don’t be worried.” Kyoko glared at Mami’s attempt at reassurance during a lull in their combat. “Your friend won’t be killed.”

“That’s real comfortin’ Blondie.” Kyoko growled out, feet shuffling in an attempt to give her a clear shot at sprinting past her. 

“I believe you have more important things to concern yourself with.” Mami stated, keeping herself in front of the red-head.

“Nothing is more important than making sure Homura’s safe,” Kyoko spat out, her whiteknuckled grip onto her spear’s handle shaking. “Who the fuck do you think you are!? Didn’t I tell you to fuck off with your damn grudge anyway?!”

“My name is Tomoe Mami.” She introduced herself with a polite dip of her head. “My friend is Kaname Madoka. I apologize for the sudden visit.”

The hunter noticeably paused for a brief moment at their names. It was good to know their reputation continued to do its job. Interestingly enough the woman’s caution only translated to her movements.

“Oh fucking great!” Kyoko looked upwards into the heavens. “All of this bullshit ‘cause Mitakihara’s “Mistress” has a bruised fucking ego!” She looked close to wanting to pull at her own hair in aggravation.

Mami’s lips pulled into a frown. Even knowing who she was Kyoko continued to act completely disrespectful. Mami couldn’t decide if she found the unadulterated honesty refreshing or annoying.

“Your nerve is astounding,” she mused, one clawed hand flexing in a silent threat that was not heeded in the slightest.

“Did I hurt your poor wittle feelings?” Kyoko mocked, eyes never once keeping still on her opponent.

“You do not see me as a threat to your life.”

“Why the fuck should I feel threatened by someone who’s inflated ego has made her sensitive to every little thing!?” Kyoko scowled. “It’s fucking pathetic.” 

“Do you think I have built my reputation on an inflated ego?” Mami frowned. “I will not tolerate such insolence.”

“Your reputation doesn’t mean shit to me lady.” Kyoko spit on the ground to emphasize her point. 

“Allow me to correct that, then,” Mami said with a cold smile, eyes ablaze with barely restrained fury.

“Now, now, no need to escalate~” Madoka’s voice chirped up from behind the blonde, acting like a bucket of cold water poured over a bonfire.

Mami managed to rein back her emotions enough to tear her gaze away from the human shaped dirt beneath her feet and direct it towards her friend who was walking back into the clearing with a spring to her step, eyes aglow with the telltale sign of having recently fed. 

“You know where the old church is don’t you Kyoko-chan~?” Madoka had barely finished before the hunter was sprinting past her. 

A beat of silence as they both stared after the red-head’s retreating back.

“Well that was a success!” Madoka cheerfully announced.

Mami couldn’t keep the scowl from her face. Her friend’s sunny disposition gave her a bad feeling about all of this.

* * *

Kyoko was downright murderous. She had not expected anything to happen tonight and yet fate decided to give her the middle finger. 

The brief terror that overtook her when she found her friend unconscious, _she was not dead damn it_ , made her choke back tears with how soul crushingly familiar the scene had felt. Thank god they still had enough neomycin left to cover Homura’s numerous wounds, especially the ugly hole in her wrist. That could get infected, she’d probably need to bandage it too. She applied some more to the tiny pair of holes at her neck too with as much disdain as she could muster without hurting her friend. Fucking bloodsuckers. Unfortunately the cracked ribs were going to have to wait till they could get their hands on those Grief Seeds. Thank god they accelerated the body’s healing capabilities somewhat.

She couldn’t believe she was thanking God so much tonight and yet… 

Kyoko slept restlessly that night, constantly getting up to check on Homura’s condition praying no complications arose out of nowhere. Her medical knowledge only went so far, she had no idea how much strain the hunter’s heart could take without the Grief Seeds keeping her going. 

With morning came relief when Homura’s first words were complaints.

“You’re gonna stay in that bed for the rest of the day so your surface wounds can heal without a hitch, got it?” Kyoko commanded, already priming up to make Homura listen if she tried to fight her over it.

“Are you going to feed me then?” Bastard was tryna to lighten the air. Kyoko couldn’t contain the grin that split her face as the tension in the air finally lifted.

“Yea with one of those little spoons.” 

“How considerate.”

They sat there basking in the comfortable silence until they could not escape the needed discussion any longer.

“So,” Kyoko began, “mind telling me what happened after the pink chick abducted you?”

Homura took in a deep breath and brought a palm to her forehead. “Well…” 

And so she told her about her meeting. Kyoko absolutely beamed with pride at Homura’s recounting of managing to draw first blood, then proceeded to split a seam laughing by the end. Here she had been worrying to death while Homura had been getting it on with the vampire out to supposedly kill her! What a fucking riot.

Fuck you Homura. Why did ya get to have the sexy one?! And Homura had the nerve to argue that she would have preferred the one that talked! Bullshit!

~♥~

“Please do not entertain ideas of kidnapping me and just take me home.” 

“So I _can_ bring you with me~” Madoka teased. 

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Homura’s annoyed little grumble was so very endearing.

“Awww but why not~?”

“Because I would prefer it if Kyoko did not have a heart attack at my lack of presence.”

Fair enough.

After that brief exchange Homura finally allowed herself to succumb to sleep and Madoka was left entertaining herself on the long trek to the hunter’s dreadful place of residence. She could, of course, get there much faster if she wanted to, but that would surely wake up her dear hunter and she couldn’t have that.

The throwaway remark of Madoka’s stalkerish activities held more truth than Homura realized. Madoka simply couldn’t help herself, she was on vacation after all so why not enjoy the sights? The two friends’ banters were beyond entertaining, especially when the topic landed on her and the impression their encounter had left on the raven-haired, knowledge that only furthered Madoka’s want to have another one on one meeting with her. Regrettably they never left each other long enough for Madoka to be able to do anything meaningful.

No matter, fate had once again been on her side when the hunters only managed to kill one of their targets. After a rather intense debate over needing someone to stay and make sure no one robbed them of their newly acquired possessions, they had agreed to take shifts hunting for the remaining werewolf who had gone into madness at the death of his brother. Fortunately for Madoka, Homura was the one to find him.

And what fortune it had been~

“Hey girlie!”

The grin that had worked its way on Madoka’s face as a result of recalling the wonderful memories of mere hours ago slipped off in an instant. She withheld her disgust and did not stop her stride for the nasally voice that dared attempt to get her attention.

“Hey I’m talkin’ to ya!” 

“If you so much as think of putting your grimy hands on me,” Madoka began, glaring at the hand that was inches from touching her shoulder, “I’ll make sure you don’t live to see the sunrise.”

The threat paired with the aura Madoka exuded quickly sobered up the idiot who stammered and backed off. Disgusting. This neighbourhood was filled with filth both inanimate and alive. 

Entering the building she quickly made her way to the right floor and door before stopping when a thought struck her. Kyoko might be asleep but no hunter was ever off-guard. If Homura was not able to confirm her presence then she would surely wake up. That would be a problem. 

“Homura-chan,” Madoka whispered.

She got a quiet grunt in response. Darling was not in a deep sleep after all? Madoka would have felt offended at the lack of trust if she wasn’t more impressed with the hunter’s stamina. Those Grief Seeds sure were something! And they tasted divine, oh how Madoka regretted not properly biting into her tonight.

“You’re going to have to confirm to your friend that you’re home safe~”

An eye opened a crack as if to confirm the requested plan prompting Madoka to open the unlocked door and quietly enter the room.

“I’m back.” Homura’s raspy voice almost made the vampire want to pounce on her again. “Don’t get up, I’m going straight to bed.” 

“You sound like shit.” Kyoko’s equally tired voice responded, the body on the couch not moving an inch. “That werewolf more of a problem than ya though?”

“Yes,” Madoka grinned when those eyes glanced her way during her sentence, “you could say that.

“Glad you’re back safe tho. Sleep tight.” 

“You too, Kyoko.”

After that exchange Madoka followed the hunter’s silent instructions towards her room and gently placed her on her bed. 

“You two are adorable!” Madoka’s barely audible squeal was evidently solely for her own benefit as Homura had fallen asleep the second her head hit the pillow. 

Lightly humming to herself, Madoka completely tore off the tatters that used to be Homura’s shirt and wrapped them tightly around the claw marks on her left arm after which she took the dagger and stripped her of her pants to tuck the woman under the covers.

Madoka gazed at the person that had grabbed her interest and gently caressed her cheek before straightening up. She was in the process of placing the weapon on the nightstand next to the bed when an idea flashed through her mind that had her smiling mischievously.

* * *

Kyoko woke up with a crick in her neck from the shitty couch and vague memories of Homura coming back somewhere late in the night, or would it be early in the morning? Whatever.

Getting up with a groan she went to the kitchen to make herself some toast and start up the coffee machine. 

Munching on her breakfast she looked at the clock when the coffee was ready minutes later. Weird, Homura would have usually been up by now. Guess it made sense with how late she came back, but still. That werewolf shouldn’t have been that hard to kill, especially since she’d finally gotten her much-needed Grief Seed injection the day before.

Tossing the half eaten bread on a plate Kyoko strode towards Homura’s room and opened the door with a bang.

“WAKE UP, SLEEPY HEAD!” Kyoko’s overly enthusiastic announcement was met with a muffled groan from the person whose head was completely underneath the covers.

“Geez Homura, you’re supposed to be the morning person out of the two of us,” Kyoko said walking up to the bed. 

Before she could rip the blankets off of her friend something else caught her attention. Moving over to the desk where an innocent piece of paper lay, she took it in her hand and squinted at the ridiculously fancy handwriting. Wait, back up, was... was that _lipstick?!_

_Come and get it~  
_ _4162 Mitakihara Heights Drive XOXOXOXO 💋_

..........What.

......What?

..What?

_What?_

Is this..?? Is this...a? A?? For Homura? Her Homura? Her uptight, all work no play Homura? Her Best Friend Homura? This Homura that didn’t want to get out of bed? The Homura that was always a morning person..? Homura that didn’t want to get out of bed...? Homura that got back weirdly late...? Homura...?

“Homura, is this a fucking **_BOOTY CALL?!_ **” The shriek that escaped her most definitely woke up the entire building.

“WHAT?!” Homura exploded, throwing the covers off of herself and sitting up in outrage.

Kyoko turned and her mind broke, the paper slipping from her limp fingers.

Homura’s neck was a _mess_ of hickeys and bite marks, her bottom lip was bruised, and Kyoko could spy vicious looking scratches on her back and all sorts of other places.

“...” Kyoko felt like screaming, or or burning her eyes out, either worked. Wait, she’d be screaming while her eyes burned! Perfect. 

“Could you repeat yourself?” 

Next Kyoko would use brain bleach. That existed right? It had to exist somewhere she just had to find it.

“Are you listening?” 

Afterwards she’d go find whoever left that note and kill them. She already had an inkling on who it was.

While Kyoko’s mind melted Homura looked to the floor where the item had floated down and stretched to pick it up. After she was done skimming over the words she wanted nothing more than to go back under the covers and convince herself that this was all a nightmare.

“Homura.” Kyoko finally snapped out of her thoughts and looked towards her friend that was blankly staring at the piece of what may as well be evidence in her hand. 

“Yes?” Homura replied with as much emotion as a robot.

“Is that a booty call?” Kyoko’s question was mindlessly repeated with just as much emotion.

“...Depends. Which kind of ‘booty call’?” 

Kyoko slowly blinked, her mind reacting to the dumb smartass remark as if in slowmotion. After it was done processing the gal of such a response, she snatched the offending item from Homura’s grip.

“I’m burning this,” she declared and turned to leave the room.

“No!” Obviously, Homura didn’t mean to say that, for she clamped up real hard afterwards.

“What was that?” Kyoko couldn’t help herself from egging her on. She needed some way to stabilize her mental, damn it! “Whatcha say? _No?_ ” 

“I mean… It’s none of your business who I..or where I..you give that back?” The end of Homura’s sputtering mess of a sentence sounded more like a question than a demand.

Staring in disbelief, never having heard Homura stumble over her words like this and wanting to get the hell out for a second so her mind could reboot, Kyoko placed the slip of paper back on the desk.

“Go take a shower.” Homura winced at the command.

Kyoko stared her down. “Go right the fuck now, you look filthy and I can’t get a look at your wounds like this. It’ll probably hurt like a bitch but you’re gonna enjoy that too, aren’t you, ya fucking masochist.”

She hesitated, but ended up quietly getting up and walking to the bathroom, covers still draped around her. Oh, now she was acting shy? Fucking hilarious.

She walked out to get the neomycin, again. Thank god they restocked on antibiotics after they got half their pay from their first kill.

Eventually, Homura emerged from her shower still clutching the covers around her. 

“Lay down on the bed.” 

“Kyoko, I don’t need--”

“ _Lay the fuck down on the bed, Homura._ ”

“Can I get dressed first-”  
  
“No.”

Homura sighed in exasperation as if _she_ was the one dealing with bullshit! Kyoko couldn’t believe this.

Sitting heavily on the bed next to her friend she stared at the deep grooves and scratches littering Homura’s back. Taking in a deep breath she started by pulling out… splinters? And some other kind of filth from the wounds that the shower didn’t manage to get rid of. She ignored the hisses of pain it earned. 

Fuck, she needed tweezers for this. And she should probably pour some alcohol over it just to be safe.

“Fucking christ, Homura, what the hell, did you fuck a blender?!”

“...How does that make any sense?”

“Don’t question me! I’m the one questioning here! Who was it?!”

Homura stayed silent while Kyoko got the ointment and began spreading it over her back. 

“It was that pink haired vampire chick, wasn’t it.”

“...no...”

“And what’s with the letter? “Come and get it” what kind of shi- what, are you a dog or something?!”

“What?!”

“Aren’t cha supposed to say 'Woof'?”

“ _Stop._ ”

“ _Come and get it!_ I can’t fucking believe this. This is a fever dream I’m still on that fucking couch and it’s so uncomfortable it’s causing my mind to go ballistic.”

“Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Kyoko resisted slapping Homura’s back in retaliation to prove just how _calm_ she was. “I’m done, you can get up.”

When she straightened up Kyoko reached out to cover Homura’s neck as well but the raven-haired hunter leaned back.

“I can do that myself, thank you.”

“Oh yeah? Alright.” Kyoko handed her the cream and sat back staring. “Go on.”

Homura stared right back, not moving an inch. “Kyoko, I’m naked.”

“Yea and? Not like I haven’t seen you before. Go on, quit stalling.”

Homura just barely stopped herself from biting her lip and potentially reopening that wound. This idiot probably couldn’t even understand why she was hesitating. Someone shoot Kyoko, please. Why this, why her, why with that vampire of all people.

As Homura reluctantly applied the antibiotic on her abused neck Kyoko finally noticed the deep gashes in her forearm. Fucker purposefully tried to keep them from her sight.

“What’s that?”

“From the werewolf. I let it get a swipe in.”

“Ah...” Kyoko nodded as if she couldn’t care less. “Didn’t I tell you to stop doing that or are you choosing to act deaf?”

“What?” 

“Nothing.” Grumbling, Kyoko stood up, leaving the room again to fetch some bandages and a thread and needle. By the time she came back Homura, in a new pair of pants and bra, was looking around the room with increasing distress. 

“Oi, what’s wrong?” Kyoko placed her medical supplies on the already cluttered nightstand.

“It’s gone.” Homura’s terse tone was enough of a clue to what she was referring to.

Kyoko spied the discarded note and remembered the now evidently taunting words written on it. Sighing heavily she grappled Homura into sitting on the bed.

“Let me sew those things shut first before you continue freaking out. Dying from an infection would be a damn stupid way to go.” 

“She _took my dagger._ ” 

“Yes, I know, but priorities dude, come on.” Kyoko gripped Homura’s left wrist tightly to keep her still. 

“If it was your hairpin--”

“I will dump this entire bottle of alcohol on your arm if you finish that sentence.”

“...Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I get it.” 

Kyoko was finally able to put the gauze soaked in alcohol against her wounds now that Homura was done attempting to get up.

“You’re going there, aren’t you?”

“That is a stupid question, Kyoko.” 

“I hope you don’t think I’m gonna let you go alone just to walk right into her clutches. Especially after what I had to wake up to.” Needle and thread were disinfected before they were poked into the skin to begin stitching up the first wound of three. “Traumatizing, by the way.” 

A growl was her reply. Was it in response to her words or her treatment? Kyoko chose to believe it was both.

* * *

Lounging on her favorite seat, Madoka stared at her newly acquired souvenir. She only had one word for it and that was: expensive. Handle made out of real leather and a top-notch steel blade with an engraved fortissimo on both sides. Simple, but very elegant. 

How Homura ever got a hold of this Madoka wouldn’t know nor did she care much to figure out, the only thing of importance was the value it had to the hunter herself. If she came, that question would be answered and many doors to new opportunities opened. 

“Where were you last night, Madoka?” 

Madoka left her fantasies behind to look at her friend. 

“Around~”

“I see.” A demure sip of her tea. Madoka briefly wondered what sort it was this morning. “You visited that hunter again didn’t you?”

“You could say that.”

“You did more than visit.” The stare was pointed. 

Madoka couldn’t stop the grin that overcame her at the reminder. “Maybe~” 

Mami sighed and took a bite of her cake. “Another one of your flings, is it?”

“This one’s different.”

“Of course it is.”

Madoka huffed at the dismissal. She played with the dagger some more as her thoughts churned further.

“Mami-san.”

“Yes, Madoka?” 

“I suspect they will be coming over sooner rather than later~” Madoka had already left their address to Homura and if this weapon in her hands was as big of a leverage as she suspected… Well, what was the harm in thinking ahead?

“Madoka...” Oh my, was that a veiled warning underneath that polite tone of hers?

“I’ll be going out for a bit in the meantime.” Her newest toy glinted in the morning sun. 

“I’m afraid to ask but… why?”

“I want Homura-chan to live with us and I need a little something in order to make that happen.”

“Absolutely not!” Such a stubborn look.

“But this apartment is so big and oh so lonely~ I really think you and her will get along splendidly!” 

“And what of her friend?” Mami nearly growled out. Oh my. 

“She’ll go where Homura-chan goes. The more the merrier, don’t you agree~?”

“If she dares step foot in my apartment I will kill her.”

“Mami-san please, have some restraint~” Madoka pouted. “We can’t kill Kyoko-chan, otherwise Homura-chan will be sad.”

“Then I shall break her limbs.” Bargaining are we? Madoka was a little shocked with how much Kyoko had managed to get under Mami’s skin. “It is the least she deserves for the tone she took with me.”

“Mami-san,” Madoka scolded. “No permanently hurting my dear hunter’s friend.”

The blonde placed her tea cup on the table with a clatter and they locked gazes, neither backing down. 

“Give the woman another chance Mami-san,” Madoka soothed. “She must have been so very scared when they were separated in such a way~”

Mami continued to frown.

“Please?” Madoka placed the dagger on the table and took Mami’s hands into her own. “Don’t you trust me~?”

A sigh of resignation. “...Of course I do.” 

“Don’t worry Mami-san~” Madoka smiled and gave them a comforting squeeze. “I have a plan.” 

“It doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Mami was too dignified to admit she was pouting.

Madoka giggled.

* * *

“How ya feelin’?” Kyoko asked as they relaxed on the couch with the TV set on low volume after their hectic morning. 

“Better, thank you.” Homura flexed her neatly bandaged arm and took a sip of her coffee. 

“Alright, good!” Kyoko stretched her legs to rest on the table, ignoring the irritated glance from her friend at that action. “Now, let’s discuss shit before we have to jump inside the lion’s den.”

“Indeed.”

“Ya got any idea why she’s doing this?”

“No.”

“Oh, come on.” Kyoko crossed her arms behind her head. “Don’t lie to me.”

“She...” Homura heaved a defeated sigh, “she probably just wants to see me again?” 

“...That’s a shit reason and you know it.”

“Look, I think she’s obsessed with me for some godforsaken reason, okay?” Homura placed her coffee cup on the table before she had a chance to spill it. “You know as well as I do that she’s been stalking us for days beforehand!” 

“Yea, can’t argue with that one.” Kyoko huffed in amusement. “Why do you gotta attract the crazies?”

“Me? If I recall correctly _you’re_ the one who ran into Tomoe and angered her to the point she came to look for us _personally_.”

“I didn’t know it was her!” Kyoko threw her arms in the air out of frustration. “And damned if I knew she’d be that fucking petty! Big bad of Mitakihara getting a bruised ego over bumping shoulders!”

Homura couldn’t really go and outright say Kyoko was correct. Honestly, she expected more restraint from the feared Tomoe Mami, but then again, she hadn’t really fought Kyoko like Madoka had and certainly didn’t go out of her way to- Homura shook her head.

“Getting back to the topic at hand, I really do not know what she’s planning but I might be able to use her obsession in our favor.” 

“Oi, be careful when ya play with fire.”

“Yes, I know,” Homura pinched the bridge of her nose, “but this is the only thing that’s going to be keeping us even remotely safe.” She chose not to mention the hypocrisy in Kyoko’s warning.

“Man dontcha hate having to rely on some emotionally unstable vampire?” Homura snorted at that remark.

“As much as I hate to say it, we will more than likely not be able to retrieve it on the very first meeting.” 

“You mean to tell me you won’t be able to seduce her into giving it back to ya?” Kyoko teased with a lewd grin and a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“No,” Homura deadpanned, reaching for her coffee deeming it safe to take a sip.

“Oh yeah I forgot, she’s the one doing the seducing, my bad,” Kyoko said offhandedly, causing Homura to choke on her drink. 

The hunter shot a dirty look at her friend before picking up where they had originally left off of. “Even if we will not be able to get it, we will still have to go and play nice.”

“Build up our ‘good girl’ points.” Kyoko’s voice went up mockingly high-pitch. “Hate dealing with people like ‘em so goddamn much.”

“Hm.” Homura nodded in agreement. “I fear the only way we are going to win is by eliminating them.”

“The good ‘ol stab in the back tactic with an added silver flair, huh?” Kyoko said and got up to stretch. “And since I know how stubborn you are, we could use ‘em for more than just protecting ourselves.”

Homura withheld a curse when Kyoko took her cup right out of her hand and downed the entire thing in one go.

“You shoulda seen Casar when he mentioned Tomoe and that Madoka chick were back.” Kyoko smirked when she saw Homura’s expression. “They have ‘em all scared shitless. We could get all the info we would ever need to catch the last of those fuckers. Tit for tat ya know? Pinky tryna use ya so it's only fair we do the same.”

“A blessing in disguise, say you?” Homura muttered. She was not sulking over her stolen coffee, _she was not._

“Fuck if I know, but we both know damn well we haven’t been able to get anything for the past like three months.” Kyoko scowled, crushing the paper cup in frustration. “Totally hiding their asses after hearing their friends were gettin’ killed left ‘n’ right.”

Homura glanced to the side in thought. By sheer luck they have tangled themselves with the two most influential people on the island and they would be foolish to let this chance go, no matter how dangerous it was. The doors that could open if they played their cards right were countless, although the waters were already muddled with what Madoka chose to take from her. Not having the dagger in her immediate presence made her anxious in ways she was not comfortable with.

“Oi, we’ll get it back.” Homura startled from her musing when Kyoko lightly kicked her foot.

“Hell,” Kyoko began with an overconfident grin on her face that always managed to somehow put Homura at ease, “I can even fight my every instinct and get all chummy with the blonde to try ‘n’ keep the pink one from going overboard.”

“You know for that to even have a chance at happening we will have to go weaponless on our first visit, don’t you?” Homura noted in amusement, knowing full well her friend hated parting with her spear.

“Don’t remind me,” Kyoko whined, heading towards the kitchen to dispose of the garbage in her hand. “No weapons, no nothing. Can’t be armed if we wanna make a good first impression. Have I mentioned that I hate diplomatic shit?”

“Multiple times,” Homura said, poking at her forearm in boredom. 

“Stop that,” Kyoko squawked when she came back. “Seriously I leave for one goddamn second and you turn into a fucking twelve year old!”

The ‘twelve year old’ in question winced at being caught, reaction doing nothing to dissuade the red-head’s claim. 

“We’re going as soon as you’re at a hundred percent.” Kyoko glared in warning and flopped back on the couch.

“I am positively bursting with excitement,” Homura droned out with absolutely no excitement in her voice whatsoever.

Kyoko smirked. “Don’t sound so reluctant! Bet you’re secretly looking forward to this.”

“When will you stop?”

“Never.” She ruffled Homura’s hair. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to be able to tease you about shit like this?”

“I can’t possibly imagine,” she deadpanned, not even bothering to move away.

“Since forever! Literally since the moment I met you!” 

Homura only groaned in defeat.

“You were so damn cute back then, a prime target but ya never got any! Never! Where were all the chicks that liked the meek type when I needed ‘em!”

* * *

Errands long since completed, Madoka had been left impatiently waiting to see if her hunch was correct. When she finally heard a knock on their door the feeling of accomplishment practically made her eyes light up. 

Mami shuffled towards the kitchen area with an annoyed expression. She never did like surprise visits.

“Fancy meeting you two here~” Madoka couldn’t help but tease after answering, casually leaning against the door frame.

“Don’t act stupid Pinky.” Kyoko’s voice was humourless and unwilling to play along.

“You’re no fun Kyoko-chan. Come right in~”

Kyoko entered first, Homura was quick on her heels but before she could pass her by Madoka grasped her hand. Ignoring the look of apprehension Madoka simply hummed, closed the door and turned towards the hunter with an inquisitive look.

“You’re missing something very important, Homura-chan,” Madoka said in a tone most grave.

“I do. And I believe you have it?”

“I don’t mean that, silly~”

Homura briefly stared in confusion before realization set in when Madoka’s second hand brushed against her neck which quickly reddened.

“That’s-!”

“We’re going to have to fix that later.”

Homura’s attempts at denial were cut off when Madoka stepped further inside, tugging the hunter after her. 

Kyoko whistled, twisting in a circle to look at everything. “This place is like... three times bigger than the shithole we’re at right now.”

“Glad you like it~”

“Do you ever stop with that?”

“Whatever do you mean~?”

“That! That fucking childish fake-sweet tone, stop it. Turn it off, it's disturbing, and let go of my friend if you don’t want to lose that hand.” 

“So rude, just for that I won’t let you two sit together.” A tongue poked out in what Kyoko would surely dub as further childish retaliation.

“Do I not have a say in this?” 

“No you don’t, darling~ Now sit.” Onto the loveseat Homura goes and sideways on her lap Madoka went, legs dangling off the side of the chair and content to ignore the growing irritation of the person she was using as replacement.

“Madoka, can you please not antagonize our guests before we have even started?” Mami called out still in the kitchen preparing her patented tea with cake combo.

“But they’re so easy~”

“Imma punch this woman,” Kyoko grumbled, shifting uneasily on the too big, too fluffy, just _too_ couch.

“Refrain from doing that...”

“Why the hell should I?! Why are you defending her all of a sudden?”

“Because I am currently at her mercy, if you haven’t noticed.”

“So smart~” A pinch of the cheek.

“Please stop.” 

“That’s not what you said before~”

Homura and Kyoko both did a spit take and stared at the grinning vampire.

“If I recall correctly you were saying something similar to: “More, please, fuck me harde--” Madoka’s gleeful rememberance was interrupted by Homura’s hand covering her mouth, face aflame and expression absolutely horrified.

Kyoko looked like she didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry, both of which to hysterical degrees.

Brimming with amusement, Madoka stared Homura dead in the eyes and slowly licked her hand. Homura yelped, ripped her hand away and looked ready to straight up dump Madoka on the ground which definitely wouldn’t do, so the vampire arrived at the most logical conclusion of having to wrap her arms around the hunter’s neck to prevent her own demise.

The whine of distress was invigorating. 

“Madoka!” Mami’s voice once again warned, the exasperation in its tone as clear as the skies outside.

“Sorry~” The smile she hid by burying her face in the crook of Homura’s shoulder screamed the complete opposite.

A brief silence settled over them, and Madoka realized it had been a mistake to bring her mouth closer to Homura’s neck like this. It took all of her restraint not to sink her fangs in. She had to be a little more patient, not yet, not yet.

“Oi, Homura.” Kyoko’s gruff voice brought her back to reality.

“What.” Oh, what a scary grunt~

“Are you even realizing what you’re doing right now or...?” The arms lightly wrapped around Madoka’s waist gave her a pretty good indication of what the redhead was talking about. Homura was making this too easy~ 

“What are you...?” So clueless, so cute!

“Your arms, dumbass.”

“....” Homura tensed up. “It’s- It’s not comfortable if they are at my side permanently. This means nothing.” Madoka giggled. “ _Nothing_.” 

“Alright.” Mami announced, coming in balancing dishes on her arms to set them on the coffee table in the middle of the arrangement of furniture before sitting down on the vacant armchair parallel to the loveseat.

“Impressive waitressing,” Kyoko snickered.

“Thank you.” A polite smile. “Comment on it again and I’ll tear out your tongue.”

“...Right, touchy subject. Got it.”

“You should feel proud! Mami-san doesn’t usually warn~” Madoka chirped up. “Maybe she liked you more than she let on? Such bad etiquette Mami-san, keeping secrets from your best friend!”

“Madoka, please.” Another tired sigh. Maybe Mami should have slept more today?

“Homura-chan, could you scoot forward a bit so I can grab our cakes please?” She kissed her hunter’s cheek as an early gift for her cooperation.

“...I believe you are fully capable of standing up and getting them yourself.” Aww she’s being denied? She takes her kiss back! How rude.

“But I’m so comfortable.” Madoka injected just a tiny amount of whine to her tone. “If I get up you’ll use the chance to go sit by Kyoko-chan, I can’t have that~”

“Then I suppose we’re both just not going to eat the food Miss Tomoe so graciously prepared for us.” Homura’s voice was as even as ever.

“So stubborn.” The unimpressed stare she received for that comment made another giggle overcome her. “I guess I’ll just have to eat something else then~” 

“Or someone,” Homura added innocently and Madoka almost guffawed right then and there. “You’re a vampire, are you not?”

“That’s very true. Maybe I should just dig in right now?” 

“Please, not here.”

“Oh? So somewhere else would be fine~?”

“...I did not say that.”

“We could always get out of here and have some fun,” she purred.

Homura didn’t outright deny it, instead squirming slightly underneath her. How cute. She was terrible at feigning disinterest. Madoka loosened her grip around the hunters neck and instead lightly scraped her nails along the back of it, sending a shiver down Homura’s spine. “Just say the word~”

She gulped. “That’s not what we came here for.”

“Maybe I can convince you to change your plans~?” She could already feel the hunter’s pulse pick up. How exciting.

Mami coughed into her fist in an attempt to ruin Madoka’s fun. She would have had the hunter wrapped around her finger if given a minute or two more! Rude, so rude.

Madoka retracted her hands and twisted to better face the blonde. Homura was stiff, much too stiff, uncomfortably so. Bringing a hand up she used one fine nail to tickle under her chin. Tickle tickle darling, relax.

Ah, that only made her tense up more, who would have thought? Regardless, it made her arms reflexibly tighten their embrace, so that was a win in Madoka’s book.

Kyoko was silently muttering to herself, staring intently at the coffee table. Somehow, Madoka got the impression she was fighting the urge to slam her face straight through it. Guess she couldn’t handle what was happening? Well, she’d best start getting used to it~

Just on cue, Mami spoke up. 

“Now, could you two explain to me why you’re here? I had to prepare the food you are not eating in a hurry because of your unannounced visit.” Although Mami knew perfectly well why they were here, the anger in her voice was very real indeed.

“It ain't poisoned, is it?”

“Poison would be too merciful a death.”

“...Noted.” Kyoko then proceeded to shove the cake in her mouth in its entirety. Huh, impressive. “Dish ish pwtty gud.”

“Please avoid talking with your mouth full.” Mami looked disgusted. “Your speaking habits are horrendous enough.”

“Aww, but Mami-san, she complimented you~”

“You can eat mine as well Kyoko. I’m not hungry.” Homura? No, no, no, you need your nutrients! 

“If you eat her cake, Kyoko-chan, I’ll have to be forced to feed her mine~” Kyoko’s chewing slowed to a crawl as she gazed at her friend with an unreadable expression.

“Don’t you dare.” The warning was very clear. Their bickering never stopped being amusing~

Swallowing, Kyoko was quick to betray her best friend for food and pulled Homura’s slice towards her. The attempts of the indignant hunter to stop her were blocked by Madoka grabbing onto her arms and keeping them in place. 

“Oh no,” Madoka fake-mourned. “It seems I have no choice.”

Madoka grabbed hers and playfully brought a piece in front of Homura’s mouth.

“Say ‘ahh’ Homura-chan~” 

The near offended look her hunter wore as she turned away like a petulant child made Madoka leave another peck on her cheek with how cute she was acting. 

“Homura-chan, don’t be a baby and eat your food~” She playfully scolded and heard Kyoko choke on her food.

Homura lifted her arms from her waist in an attempt to grab at the fork.

“No, no, no, bad Homura-chan!” Madoka avoided the grasping hands but suddenly gasped loudly in realization. “Unless? Would you like to feed me~?”

Homura looked like she was actually considering it, too bad~ Using the opportunity she shoved the piece of cake in the distracted hunter’s mouth.

“There, that wasn't so hard, was it?” Madoka smiled when Homura almost looked like she was going to spit it out before ultimately deciding to actually swallow after chewing.

A bang on the table made Madoka look back and start laughing at Kyoko who was blue-faced and trying to breathe. Oh, she choked - Mami, don’t just stand there, help her!

The blonde glanced at her as if she could hear her thoughts and simply shook her head, taking another sip of her tea. So cruel~

“Kyoko-chan the tea! Drink the tea!” 

Heeding her cries, Kyoko downed her own cup of tea in record time and when after that she was still left wheezing she grabbed Homura’s and drank that too. 

Homura sighed in annoyance. Don’t think you’re off the hook, darling~ Another piece of cake inched its way towards her mouth making her flinch back for a second before resigning to her fate. So obedient!

“Are we done derailing?” Mami deadpanned.

“Yes, please.” Homura gritted out. At least she didn’t have food in her mouth when she spoke~ 

“Why are you here.”

“Pinky stole something from us and we want it back, duh.” 

“Stealing is such a strong word,” Madoka pouted. “I just borrowed it.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind returning it?” 

“Well,” she pretended to think about it while she trailed a finger down Homura’s throat. “I could return it, but I have a much better idea. I will give it back on one condition~”

* * *

“What the hell are you on,” Kyoko said incredulously, Mami rubbed her forehead as if to stave off a headache.

Homura tried to make sense of what Madoka just said but couldn’t. It didn’t make sense. “You want me to... move in with you?”

“Of course!” she chirped. “That filthy neighborhood is no place for my dear hunter to live.”

Multiple kinds of internal alarms went off blaring through Homura’s skull. She absolutely could not agree to this, even though it aligned perfectly with their plans - somehow she knew it would be like selling her soul to the devil.

“Why?” Kyoko asked before she did. “You don’t have to live together to...” she vaguely gestured at them, “do whatever the fuck you two are doing. What’s in it for you?”

“Can’t a woman feel lonely in her big empty apartment sometimes?” Her tone oozed theatrics. “I only have the best of intentions~”

“Not buying it Pinky, aren’t you living with Blo- Tomoe here?” 

“Oh, Kyoko-chan,” the vampire said playfully and Homura felt her lean in and barely scrape her teeth against an ear, making heat creep up her neck. “That’s not the kind of lonely I’m talking about,” she finished, voice much darker, implying what Homura definitely should not be thinking about at the moment.

“You’re insane. No fucking way, she’s not gonna live here to be your- what, your fucking pet? Or I know! A personal blood bag!”

“Yes,” Homura quietly agreed.  
  
“WHAT?!” Kyoko roared.

“I mean no! Yes there is no way- I will not agree.” The arms around her neck tightened their grip for a moment.

Madoka jumped off of Homura’s lap and swiftly turned to walk towards a room, presumably hers. “Just one second~” and the door closed behind her.

A silent moment later in which Kyoko’s foot tapped away, further irritating Mami and making Homura wonder how long it would be until the blonde vampire snapped, she returned with the dagger in hand, admiring how it reflected the light when she twisted it. Homura tensed up immediately.

“Please give it back.”

“So polite!” Madoka said pleasantly, dropping back into Homura’s lap, one arm around her shoulders and the other holding her memento. Homura fought the urge to try and rip it from her hands right then and there. The vampire slowly rotated it right in front of her face, an obvious taunt. “It really is such a pretty blade, no wonder you want it back so badly.”

“Give it back, now.” Her voice betrayed her rising anger, but that only made Madoka grin.

“You know my condition, all you need to do is agree~”

“Nuh-uh, me and Homura are a team, she ain’t fuckin goin’ anywhere,” Kyoko snapped.

“Oh, but I never intended on splitting you up.” Madoka brought the sharp edge closer to Homura’s face. “I know how important friendships are, isn’t that right Mami-san? You’re free to join, Kyoko-chan, I’m sure you two would learn to get along as well!”

Kyoko looked appalled. “Blondie, why the fuck are you going along with this?”

Homura looked towards Mami and suddenly felt like they shared a wavelength, as the blonde woman looked close to shattering the teacup in her hands. She remained silent though, sipping her tea with an expressionless mask. 

“Mami-san simply knows how important this is to me~.”

“No,” Homura said, no room for argument.

“How about this.” Homura froze, feeling cold metal on her cheek, “Since I sprang this on you so suddenly, come back tomorrow and we’ll talk it over again~?” 

“There is nothing to discuss,” Homura scowled. “You either return it or it’s over.”

“Over?” Madoka quirked an eyebrow in mock-surprise and Homura had to contain a shudder when the vampire ran the sharp end of the dagger against her cheek, leaving a stinging red line behind. “So arrogant~”

“Fine.” Kyoko rapidly stood up, visibly upset. “We’ll come back tomorrow,” she said, staring at the other hunter, gaze telling her _we’ll figure something out, play along._ “Thanks for the cake ‘twas good, I mean it,” she threw towards the blonde. 

A small happy smile split Mami’s face, though it was gone as quickly as it appeared. A slip?

Homura sighed. “Tomorrow then.”

“Perfect! Don’t worry dear, I’ll take very good care of your dagger here.” Madoka laid the item down on the coffee table and brushed her lips against Homura’s cheek, right where she left the cut. “There, there, all better now~” 

“Fuckin’ wackos,” Kyoko grumbled as she turned towards the door. “Come on Homura, we’re leaving.”

Homura didn’t answer and instead stood up with Madoka in her arms, quickly depositing her back onto the loveseat before she could try anything. She followed Kyoko, thankful for the chance to get out of there and clear her head. Well, at least she knew she could get her dagger back somehow, as little of a consolation as that was given the situation.

She was stopped in the doorframe by a tug on her wrist.

“What, no goodbye kiss~?” Madoka grabbed her by the collar and pulled her close, breath hot on her neck, and without as much as a warning she sank her fangs in, drawing out a hiss from the hunter. She sucked at her pulse point briefly and pulled back just as fast, licking her lips and looking at Homura with those intense, glowing eyes that made her feel like she was about to lose her life. She couldn’t look away.

Madoka looked content. “I told you I’d fix that~”

“I don’t think that really counts as a kiss,” Homura said without thinking.

A glint in the vampire’s eyes and a smile that screamed _danger_ and without a word she assaulted the hunter’s lips, a tongue invading her mouth leaving a- metallic taste? Blood, she tasted blood - her own? She swallowed, admittedly unable to focus on it much when Madoka kept kissing her deeply, their bodies pressed close, memories and desires resurfacing as a hand was dragged down her back-

A sharp knocking cleared her rapidly fogging mind. They pulled away and both looked towards Kyoko, leaning against a wall, with varying amounts of disgruntlement. 

“I would prefer not to have to watch you two fuck in the doorframe, thank you very much.”

Homura collected herself. “We weren’t-”

“Don’t even finish that sentence. I’m not blind, if you wanna go at it again with Pinky be my fucking guest but there’s a time and place for everything dammit. Let’s go.”

“I got what I wanted so I guess I can let you go,” Madoka said wistfully while she ran a thumb across the hunter’s lower lip - wiping some blood off of it. “Looks like we’ll have to continue next time.” The downright sultry tone of her voice had Homura gulp in... something. Kyoko gagged in the background. 

“Try not to miss me too much,” she added and lightly pushed Homura out into the hallway.

♥

Door closed shut Madoka leaned against it, sighing dreamily, surely the very image of a girl in love. 

“Didn’t this go wonderfully, Mami-san?” Madoka all but sang, moving to twirl across the living room floor to a tune only she could hear.

“I’m not sure if we share the same definition of the word ‘wonderfully.’” 

“Don’t be like that~” Madoka now started humming a waltz-like melody, dancing as if she had a partner there to accompany her. “Kyoko-chan looked very happy to eat your cake, she even thanked you~”

Mami rolled her eyes at that. “As if I haven’t gotten fake compliments thrown at my feet before.”

“Totally not true! She meant it and you know it, don’t think I didn’t see you crack a smile~”

“Her manners are still terrible!” Mami was getting flustered, how cute! 

Madoka giggled, a light, airy sound. “Maybe she just didn’t have anyone to teach her~?”

“Perhaps.” Mami huffed and got up to take the dishes to the sink. 

“See~ nothing a little bit of time can’t fix.” She stopped her impromptu dance to skip towards the dagger, picking it up and tracing her fingers along the runic letters now etched into the blade above one of the fortissimo symbols. They glowed with a faint pink light, a promise that sent a thrill through Madoka’s entire being. She twirled once more, holding the precious weapon close to her chest and falling back onto her loveseat. “Oh Homura-chan, my darling hunter,” she stretched her arms out and gazed up at the item in her hand, “I can’t wait to put a collar on that pretty neck of yours~” 

* * *

**Omake:** Glass of Malk

“Would you two like anything to drink?” Mami asked, standing up from the table and making her way towards the fridge.

“I would like a glass of malk, thank you.” Homura said offhandedly, flipping through a newspaper. 

“...I don’t have any “malk” but I can get you some milk?” Mami blinked in confusion as she opened the fridge, hand hesitantly reaching for the milk carton.

“That’s what she just said.” Kyoko rolled her eyes, cheek resting on her hand in boredom.

“Yes, I just want some malk.” Homura repeated herself, peering inquisitively at Mami over the top of her newspaper. 

“No, you- you’re saying it wrong - you’re saying “malk”. Like, like it’s some sort of disease.” Mami stammered, forgetting to complete the simple task of taking the carton out and closing the fridge.

Kyoko snorted, “How do _you_ say it?”

“I’m saying it the way everyone ought to say it. Milk. M-I-L-K.” Mami slowly said, spelling out the word as if she were speaking to a child. 

“Right, like two percent!” Kyoko grinned, smacking the table lightly at her genius conclusion.

“Right, whole malk.” Homura echoed afterwards, face blank and completely unphased from her horrendous butchering of the word ‘milk’. 

“No, no, no, no,” Mami shook her head and looked at Homura, “say ‘milkshake’.” 

“Milkshake.”

“Okay, good.” Mami nodded, feeling like a kindergarten teacher. “Now say ‘milk’.”

Homura frowned in confusion. “Malk.”

Mami struggled not to facepalm. Actually scratch that she didn’t struggle at all, she released the milk carton in order to facepalm so hard she almost broke her nose.

“A-Are you hearing this?” She turned to Kyoko, desperately hoping for salvation to take her out of this situation.

“Ya, the girl wants a glass of mulk,” Kyoko said, patting her friend on the shoulder as a show of support.

“Mulk!?” Mami screeched in outrage, eye twitching and looking about ready to throw the fridge at the two people seated on the table in front of her. 

“Give her the mulk Mami!” Kyoko in a ridiculous show of escalation yelled out and stood up with such vigor the chair crashed on the floor at her feet.

“Kyoko-chan inside voices please~” Madoka’s voice was heard coming from the living room. 

“Right, sorry…” Kyoko flinched back.

“Mami, just pour me a glass of malk please!” Not to worry, Homura continued from where Kyoko left off with a raised tone of her own, slapping the newspaper on the table in irritation. “I’m thirsty!”

“Why are you yelling at me?!” Mami was completely incredulous at what was happening to her. 

“Just give her the fucking mulk!” And Kyoko went right back to shouting. It hadn’t even been a minute since Madoka’s request.

“You aren’t even saying the same thing!” Mami’s hand went up in the air in exasperation.

“We’re all saying malk, Mami!” Homura was now also standing, leaning forward on the table by her hands.

“No!” Mami scowled, pointing at her furiously. “ _You’re_ saying malk! _She’s_ saying--”

Mami was cut off when the two best friends erupted in hollering of ‘mulks’ and ‘malks’ that increased in volume and length after every utterance of the words. Unfortunately for the blonde’s sanity that was also when the fridge decided to begin beeping due to being open for so long, only adding to the racket. The handle in her whiteknuckled grip broke off.

“MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUULK.” Kyoko was in the process of sounding like a deranged zombie cow when Mami finally snapped.

“SHUT UP! _SHUT. UP!_ ” Mami screamed, pulling out a flintlock rifle out of nowhere to point at her own head. Kyoko and Homura immediately got out guns of their own to aim at her in response.

“YOU BETTER PUT IT DOWN, MAMI!” Kyoko threatened, finally sounding like the experienced Hunter she was.

“DON’T DO IT MAMI.” Homura followed suit, other hand inching towards a throwing knife at her belt.

“YOU’RE GOING TO SHOOT ME IF I SHOOT MYSELF?!” Mami wailed in utter disbelief, tears of despair clouding her vision. “THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!”

Kyoko and Homura glance at each other for a moment before correcting their aim in the direction of their own heads. 

“MAMI PUT IT DOWN. PUT THE GUN DOWN. PUT IT AWAY.” Homura said loudly in a tone only she could possibly consider reassuring. The situation was not dissimilar to facing a cornered animal. 

“MAMI PUT IT DOWN NOW!” Kyoko decided to go with the ‘tough sergeant’ approach even though tears were streaming down her face as well out of sheer empathy.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M GOING TO KILL MYSELF OVER THIS!” Mami’s entire body was shaking now. “IF WE CAN’T AGREE ON HOW TO SAY “MILK” THEN WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO DIE!” 

The fridge’s insistent beeping served as background noise while they continued to scream and yell at each other until the world was literally paused and the camera panned out to show it was all a scene on a television screen. 

Madoka leaned against the TV with a smile. “And then after that you pull the triggers. All three of you.”

Mami, Kyoko and Homura stared in silence.

“Madoka, sweetie…” Mami’s forehead was being massaged by her hand in hopes of fighting off the headache she knew was coming.

“You’re fucking insane.” Kyoko deadpanned. 

“...” Homura opened her mouth but before she could say anything Kyoko smacked her upside the head. 

“No, we’re not fucking doing this.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the fun begins~


	5. The Poison and the Antidote

An uncomfortable silence hung between them as they made their way back until Kyoko couldn’t take it anymore and spoke up.

“What the fuck. Did I miss something? She just... gave it back?”

Homura twisted the dagger in her hand and ran a finger along the runes. “Seems like it.”

Kyoko scratched the back of her neck. “I’m not buying it.”

Homura made a show of waving the weapon around. “There’s not much to buy, we got what we went there for and now we’re on our way back,” she said, but she did agree with Kyoko. This should have been the end of the story, but it definitely, _definitely_ did not feel like it. Madoka had made sure to whisper into her ear that the glowing letters weren’t visible to anyone besides them and _suggested_ that she should keep the knowledge of their existence to herself. She had a feeling that the vampire would somehow know if she tried to go against her words so she deemed it safer to just do as told for now until she found out what they meant. 

“And what the hell was that about visiting? Does she think we’re suddenly best buds and we’re gonna regularly sit down to gossip over tea and cake?” Kyoko kicked a rock on the pavement in irritation. 

That was the condition on which Madoka gave her the dagger back. "You can have it back if you come by every now and then~” she had said, once again sitting in her lap and dangling the dagger in front of her like a dog treat. 

“The cake was pretty good,” Homura quipped mindlessly, her mind stuck on replaying the scene with an uncanny sort of clarity.  
  
“Yeah, it was– wait, no! That’s not the point!” Kyoko caught herself. “We’re not going back there.”

“Agreed,” she said, but her heart wasn’t really in it.

Something in the back of her mind nagged at her, whispering that this was only the beginning.

* * *

“I thought you wanted her to live with us?” Mami questioned with a raised brow. Madoka was never one to just go back on her word.

Her friend was currently curled up on her loveseat which had been moved to a new position that allowed her to look through the massive window and into the city.

“Patience, Mami-san,” Madoka said with a wink. “What’s the fun in forcing her to stay when I can have her come to me~?”

“Ah, I see,” Mami murmured, recalling the words Madoka had sent them off with. She got up to finally clear up the used utensils, pausing just before she entered the kitchen. “Do you intend to sit there all day…?”

Madoka laughed. “Mami-san, you make me look desperate~” 

Snorting, the blonde placed everything in the dishwasher before washing her hands and re-entering the living room, making her way to stand next to her still seated friend.

“My apologies, but you’re certainly acting like it.” 

“So rude!” Madoka pouted up at her. “I didn’t mean to stay here all day but well, we have nothing else to do, this seat is comfy, the view is nice and it will only get better when I get to see my dear hunter making her way back here out of her own volition~” 

“‘Her own volition’ you say,” Mami nearly scoffed and crossed her arms in displeasure.

“I know you don’t like this particular type of method, Mami-san, but it’s for the best.” 

Mami sighed, refusing to dive into that rabbit hole of a conversation. Homura Akemi was polite, nice enough, as honest as her friend but actually capable of tact. She was not looking forward to watching such a person crumble to nothing, but if it made Madoka happy then Mami would play along.

“I wonder how long she’ll last~” Madoka mused to herself, eyes darting here and there as if she could see the very person she was talking about.

“I would be impressed if more than two days pass.” Madoka giggled at Mami’s prediction. She hoped her hunter was much more resilient than that~ 

* * *

Homura lay awake in her bed for the second night in a row, staring blankly at the ceiling and willing her mind to shut up for one second and just let her sleep. This was getting ridiculous, she got the dagger back, didn’t she? There was no reason for her to feel as restless as she did, tossing and turning and reliving her meetings with the pink-haired vampire as if stuck in a loop. 

She had no intention of going back there. Something wasn’t quite right, she could tell. The best decision was to keep as much of a distance between herself and Madoka as she could and hope the vampire lost interest, or found someone else to play with… 

She threw the covers off and stood up.

“Where ya goin?” Came a sleepy voice from the couch, stopping her right before she closed the door.

“A walk, can’t sleep,” she answered. “I’ll be back soon.” She desperately needed to clear her head, praying the cool night air would help her mind settle down.

Kyoko grumbled some sort of reply and went right back to snoring. 

The moment she stepped out into the cold a small amount of relief washed over her. At this hour the only ones out were the ones hunting in the night or those not afraid to lose their life. She supposed she could fit into both of those categories. Either way, it felt nice to walk around aimlessly, even with how shitty their neighborhood was – now and then someone would pass her looking ready to pick a fight, but once they saw her hunters’ coat and the unimpressed glare she shot them they usually thought better of it. She kept walking even as the unkept streets and buildings turned more sophisticated, thinking, or rather trying not to but failing miserably. 

Her mind was a jumbled mess of contradictory feelings, half of which she couldn’t even admit to herself in the privacy of her own thoughts. She might just be losing her mind, why else would her brain be so insistent on replaying that voice, the teasing words, the touches the nails the pain the heat-

Shaking her head she stopped walking and took a deep breath, dragging a hand down her face in frustration. Looking up she wondered if maybe actually she had fallen asleep and this was all just a cruel joke the universe was attempting to play on her.

She stood in front of the entrance to Madoka’s apartment building. All she’d have to do was take an elevator up and there she’d be, probably waiting, probably saying something along the lines of ‘I knew you’d come back~’ and she hated how she could picture it so clearly. 

She turned around on her heel and began walking back. Absolutely not. She would not just fall into whatever the vampire had planned for her. 

* * *

She lay awake in her bed for the third night in a row. When she was about to leave this time Kyoko actually shot her a suspicious look.  
  
“Again?”

Homura sighed. “Maybe if I properly tire myself out I’ll fall asleep.”  
  
“Tire yourself out?” The tone was mocking. “That wouldn’t include a sadistic pink-haired vampire chick, would it?”  
  
“No?!” 

“Shhh quiet, god, it’s way too late for this.” Kyoko groaned and fell back onto the couch. “I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

She didn’t answer. Did she know what she was doing? Yes, she was going for a walk, no, she wasn’t going to see Madoka. 

She kept repeating that phrase up until she arrived at a certain building that was quickly growing familiar and looking more and more like it was making fun of her. 

She felt… inexplicably calmer than before. She still had no intention of going inside, no reason to do so. Maybe it was just the length of the walk that allowed her to silence the grating noise at the back of her mind that had been bothering her the entire day. She turned to walk back.

* * *

Fourth night in a row. She fell asleep for an hour or two during the day out of sheer exhaustion, but it didn’t do much for her body or mind in terms of rest. She was on edge, the constant whining in her ears and the fog that was beginning to cloud her thoughts gave her no respite, barely leaving her coherent enough to speak. 

Kyoko looked worried this time. “You okay dude?”

“... I’m not sure.”

“Can I help?”

“I don’t think so,” Homura muttered in resignation and left once more. 

This time she knew where her legs would take her, no point in denying it. It would help, she knew. She didn’t question how. 

She looked up at the building in front of her, eyes fixed on the windows of the top floor apartment; too high up to see past the glass from where she stood she imagined a pair of glowing pink eyes staring back at her. Her mind was clearer than it’d been all day, and yet she had to beat down the urge to step inside. It would help, something kept telling her. She turned to walk back. 

* * *

Fifth night in a row, Homura stared into the bathroom mirror. Maybe if she stared hard enough her skull would split open and the secrets of her mind would spill out and tell her what to do, how to proceed. Looking down at her hands that clutched the sink she thought maybe if she willed it they would turn into something big enough to crush her head and give her merciful silence. A flash of infuriating dark _pink_ in her doppelganger’s eyes and her fist slammed into the mirror, the inconsistent flickering of the lightbulb casting foreboding shadows on the millions of shattered pieces that glared at her, accusing her of being in the wrong place. 

Kyoko made her displeasure loudly apparent as she angrily wrapped her injured hand, pain failing at taking her mind off of the insistent ringing that screamed at her to just _go_.

* * *

“Mami-san,”

“Yes Madoka?”

“It’s been six days.” 

“Indeed.”

“I won’t lie, I'm fighting the urge to hunt her down myself.”

“Oh?”

“This amount of resistance is...”

“Infuriating?”

“No, Mami-san… It’s _so hot_.” 

Mami sighed.

* * *

On the seventh night she didn’t even bother laying down on her bed. She couldn’t think of anything other than getting to that damn apartment as soon as possible. Completely out of it all day, the annoying static in her ears threatened to drive her insane as Kyoko’s increased worry over her mental state left her trying to get an explanation out of her, an explanation she did not have but was determined to get. Homura left their place in a hurry, off-handedly telling Kyoko not to stay up for her. She didn’t care enough to wait and hear her reaction. 

The walk kept feeling shorter and shorter after every night spent trudging there, and always without fail the closer she got to the vampires’ place of residence the easier it was to _breathe_. Mind just a bit clearer, desperation fought with anger. Now _she_ was the one obsessed with the vampire. What a joke. She didn’t know what Madoka had done to her, but she knew she’d make it better and her tired mind stubbornly clung to that hope, regardless of what she’d have to do when she got there as long as it stopped. The insomnia, the static, the voices, everything. 

Stomping into the lobby with one purpose in mind she barely heard the receptionist tell her she was being expected. The scowl Homura sent his way almost made him call security.

Once she stepped into the elevator she frantically tried to calm herself down, running a shaky hand through her hair and taking deep breaths but it barely did a thing. She tapped her foot in anticipation and as she watched the numbers go up the miniscule amount of rationale left in her was adamant that this was a horrible, horrible decision.

She froze once she stepped out into the hallway and the elevator door slid shut behind her. This was it. She walked up to the door and stopped herself mid-knock, furrowing her brows and walking back to the elevator, then turning around to stalk towards the door again. Why was this so difficult? She started pacing back and forth, mentally kicking herself for what she was about to do until the ringing in her ears wouldn’t let her stall any longer.

Her polite knocking was admittedly more of a loud banging after which she leaned against the doorframe and once again attempted to collect her bearings during the time it took for the door to swing open.

Homura’s tired, irritated visage clashed with an overly pleased one. 

“Hello, darling~” The sound of the vampire’s melodious voice made her head spin but above all it miraculously, gloriously lessened the horrendous noise to almost nonexistence. 

“What are you doing to me?” Homura’s growl was half-hearted, the anger that had been boiling under her skin mere moments ago was doused the second Madoka opened her mouth.

“Follow me and find out, love~” Madoka said while a delicate hand took hold of her chin. The touch was electrifying. Her rapidly faltering logic quietly noted how unnatural her reactions were but it was completely ignored in favor of following those hypnotic eyes further into the penthouse. 

Being tugged into Madoka’s room, her mind couldn’t spare a thought on noting the obscenely expensive decor for its awareness was completely and utterly ruled by the pink haired seductress in front of her with lips that suddenly crashed against her own, leaving her breathless and abruptly chasing away the exhaustion. Her arms automatically wrapped around the vampire’s waist to deepen the kiss meeting no resistance in the form of clothes. Naked? How had she not noticed? Her brief flash of coherency at that revelation was chased away when Madoka’s hands scratched the back of her neck sending chills down her spine then in an awful display of ‘hot/cold’ behavior she gripped her coat’s collar and pushed her away, leaving her to stand next to the queen sized bed while she sashayed her way towards a drawer. 

“Now then, Homura-chan,” her name being spoken resulted in a full body shiver and a clenched jaw to smother the embarrassing sounds that attempted to make themselves known, “since you made me wait so long I’m going to show you all the fun we can have with this version of the bind I have on you~”

Bind? Homura tried to stick with that line of thought for it sounded much too important to be ignored but infuriatingly enough she had just traded one distraction for another, albeit a much much more pleasant one. The ringing was barely there, being drowned out by Madoka’s voice that was unfortunately also somehow managing to ruin any attempts at concentration the hunter tried to apply. 

“Strip.”

She bristled at the sudden command yet couldn’t fathom not complying.

The trenchcoat was discarded and flung somewhere to the side followed by untying and kicking her boots off alongside her socks, next was her shirt but she was interrupted before she could even begin taking it off.

“Ah, ah,” Madoka tutted in disapproval. Homura glanced towards her, suppressing her flush from those heated eyes. “Slow down and turn around. I want to see those lovely back muscles at work~” A flirty lip bite later and the hunter had to pivot on her heel to hide her losing battle over keeping her face from turning red.

Rolling her shoulders in a sorry attempt at relieving the tension that was suddenly so very present, Homura criss-crossed her arms and gripped the bottom of her shirt from both sides to begin slowly pulling it up. The appreciative trill as the material gradually revealed more skin did not help in calming her down at all. Once that task was completed she unbuckled her belt and pulled her pants down, her bra and underwear quick to follow.

“Don’t move,” Madoka said when Homura tried to turn around. Facing away, she was left to endure the gaze that raked over her naked form as the vampire drew near.

Her hair was brushed to the side and warm palms spread over her shoulder blades, trailing over numerous almost invisible scars. A shudder was impossible to suppress when lips brushed the sensitive skin on the back of her neck, teeth gently biting into it.

“Lay down on your back and close your eyes, and no peeking~” Honeyed words were whispered in her ear and Homura could do naught but obey.

Crawling to the middle of the bed she closed her eyes and simply listened to the noise of Madoka bustling about that preceded the bed dipping further as she joined her.

The woman settled above her and leaned down for an unhurried kiss, hair falling like a curtain around her. Even though no oxygen entered her lungs Homura finally felt like she could breathe as she ran her hands over the vampire’s smooth back earning a delighted hum against her lips. 

Hands cupped her cheeks to deepen the kiss, fangs nipping at her lip prompting Homura’s tongue to flick out in retaliation. They continued to tease and battle, Madoka’s nails lightly digging into the skin, earning a soft moan.

The vampire’s hands grasped Homura’s forearms and pinned them against the bed. The smile against her lips was positively sadistic. Separating their mouths, Madoka's hot breath brushed against Homura’s ear, causing her breath to hitch. 

“I have an order for you, Homura.”

The buzzing in her head that had been quiet ever since she arrived spiked briefly as if in response.

“Come for me.” What? “Right now.” An impossible demand, she knew, and yet a twisted sort of want urged her to fulfill it as fast as possible.

With the game having officially begun, pleasant tingles followed in the wake of Madoka’s kisses as they suckled down the length of her neck, trailing to kiss along her right shoulder then the other, briefly pausing before savagely biting into it. Homura snarled, arms tensing but unable to do anything more against the ones that held her down.

A ragged moan escaped her lips as a tongue was dragged over her newly throbbing wound before it was swallowed by an eager mouth that ravished her own once more. That same pink appendage ran over her teeth and pushed itself down her throat as if it wanted to suck out her very soul before it retreated to make way for wicked teeth that bit into her bottom lip hard enough to tear, the resultant hiss only growing sharper when hands squeezed her breasts hard enough to leave angry marks on the tender skin. Hands freed, they traveled down the vampire’s sides as Madoka’s lips left hers in order to sample down her jaw and to begin sucking on her neck again. Firmly squeezing her ass, Homura pushed down, both gasping as their nether regions made contact.

“Naughty hunter,” Madoka said in a low rumble of a growl, biting down harder in response until blood came to the surface to be lapped up. Palms on either side of Homura’s head, the vampire rolled her hips slowly grinding them forward to drag out another sound of pleasure from her lover before abruptly pushing herself away and off the bed. 

“Stay still until I come back, dear~”

Shivering at the sudden lack of heat, she almost failed her task the very second it was given but Homura managed to remain completely unmoving otherwise, the pressure in her temples lessening as a result and giving her a brief respite, as short lived as it was for the persistent buzzing remained, reminding her that Madoka’s first command had yet to be completed.

Kneeling on the soft mattress, Madoka took Homura’s wrists and tied them up against the posts of the bed canopy. She instinctively tugged at the restraints but they wouldn’t give, of course.

Resuming her previous position, Madoka’s hands rested on the hunter’s abs and lightly scraped her nails against the quivering muscles underneath. Purposefully not doing anything else she simply stared, allowing the sexual frustration alongside the binding’s grasp over the hunter to build up to the point Homura was writhing and whimpering from the noise that was surely becoming torturous.

Her pained noises transformed into a strangled gasp when Madoka suddenly moved and her mouth descended on the hunter’s nipples alternating between both, giving them equal love. 

Madoka refused to go where she knew her hunter wanted her most. Smirking, her claws scratched at her stomach to fan the flames in her abdomen higher, then proceeded to slither between her back and the mattress to rain further abuse.

Homura’s arms strained against their constraints. She couldn’t hear herself think but at this point she wasn’t really trying to either, only having one desire but _she couldn’t_ she had to _she couldn’t_ she wanted to _she couldn’t she couldn’t._

“Beg for me, baby~” Madoka practically sang, relishing the internal struggle that was oh so visible in the hunter’s expression.

“Please…” The guttural groan was shameless and instantaneous, the feeling of that hot mouth trailing kisses all over her trembling body everywhere but not where she needed it was absolutely maddening. The fingers that ghosted over her skin, leaving goosebumps and blazing red lines in their wake made her blood boil.

“God, please touch me, let me come for you _please_.” She couldn’t even hear her own pleas over the cacophony in her brain that refused to quiet down unless the vampire was talking.

“Homura-chan.” That single word elicited another helpless mewl from her throat. _How_ could a word feel so _good?!_

“Listen to me.” Madoka’s voice was like a gunshot through all the noise, louder, clearer, able to overshadow the madness, _utter bliss_.

“Yesssss,” the hunter hissed out in perverse glee, god Madoka needed to keep talking forever.

She didn’t even notice when her legs were spread, raised up above the vampire’s shoulders and suddenly there was something roughly entering her folds nearly making her howl.

The brief pause from the vampire’s beautiful voice lasted probably not even a second but still it was too long, the chattering grating noise came back with a vengeance instantly filling the silence. A body once again hovered above her, whatever it was still inside her making her gasp as it moved.

“Are you ready, sweetheart~?” Glorious voice, drowning out the disorienting racket. The hunter could only nod repeatedly. God, please keep talking please, please, please.

“Focus on my voice darling,” the goddess continued as if she could read her thoughts, hips moving away only to ram back in, ripping another cry from the hunter’s throat. “Focus on my words, don’t drown in the runes’ spell.”

Homura couldn’t formulate words but she focused, oh how she focused on that voice of an angel’s like a lifeline, completely helpless in her current position, unable to do anything else but accept the downright bruising thrusts.

“You managed to hang on for so long,” Madoka praised, the infliction of her voice snaking into the hunter’s brain like poison, making her wish to hear it again and again, to do whatever pleased the vampire and made her direct such a tone at her.

“But in the end here you are~ I told you you’re mine, did I not, darling~?” 

“Yes you did.”

“Are you mine?”

“Yes.” Somehow, it was the wrong answer. The movements that pleasured her so completely stilled and the voice that kept her from drowning became quiet.

The punishment lasted for an undetermined excruciating amount of time that nearly brought her to tears.

“I want to hear you say it,” the vampire demanded, merciless and unyielding. 

“ _I’m yours!_ " the hunter sobbed, desperate to correct her mistake and wanting the vampire to pick her pace back up, _please_.

“Give yourself to me and only me.”

“ _Yesss, yes only to you._ " Homura grunted when the motions began anew, head tossing to the side.

“That’s right.” Nails dug into her thighs. “Say my name, pet~”

_“Madoka.”_

“Again!” 

“ _Madoka!_ ” Her name repeatedly fell from Homura’s lips like a prayer, every instance of obedience shooting a fresh jolt of pleasure down her spine. Her mind’s attention deliriously split between listening and responding to that otherworldly voice, the everpresent whining that demanded the vampire’s original command be completed and the penetrating action between her legs that filled her just _right_.

“Isn’t it so much easier like this, baby~?” Madoka encouraged further, hands moving to grip the hunter’s shoulders hard enough to puncture, causing the already injured one to resume its bleeding. “Isn’t it better to just listen and submit?” 

“It is,” Homura panted, tension building, arms pulling against those damn ropes imagining them bursting into flames and enabling her to grip at anything, _anything_ to keep her from falling out of this reality never to be found again.

Madoka brought her mouth close to her ear, her bewitching voice tugging at the strings of Homura’s every action. “Doesn’t it feel nice when you do?”

“Yesss it does.” Homura didn’t even care what she was saying or what questions she was answering, as long as it was an affirmative. The owner of that voice deserved nothing less. 

“Homura,” the vampire crooned. “Do it for me, come for me.”

The ringing increased to a deafening pitch, she was so close _yes_ just one more hard deep delicious thrust and she was gone with a scream. The mind numbing ecstasy that overcame her from finally being able to do as asked made her climax a second time almost instantly, a breathless cry and back arching off the mattress. Left a quivering mess, she sighed weakly when Madoka pulled away. 

Carelessly tossing the strap on away she caressed the hunter’s cheeks, kissing her softly and releasing her rope burned wrists from their confines.

“You wish to be able to give control to someone else, don’t you, darling~?”

“Only you.” Homura was admittedly not in her right mind when mumbling her reply but that voice still sounded like heaven, even without it battling down the now mercifully quiet buzzing – it wanted a positive answer and a positive answer it would be given.

Madoka laid down next to the exhausted hunter with a pleased hum. Hugging her close she pulled the covers over them.

“Go to sleep, Homura-chan~”

And finally, finally, she could.

* * *

**Omake:**

Madoka and Mami both perked up at the banging on their door. 

“She’s here~” Madoka said with glee, quickly starting to take off her clothes in preparation. 

Mami was already halfway through the window. “I shall see myself out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't fall into these kinds of relationships kids they ain't healthy


	6. Revelations

The air had a pleasant chill to it, not cold enough to where opening the window would freeze you, but just the perfect temperature to freshen you up as you drank your morning coffee, or in Mami’s case, blood. 

The vampire took a deep breath and leaned on the balcony overlooking the city, demurely sipping her drink while lost in thought.

Madoka was not up yet, but it was no surprise as her friend liked to sleep in whenever she could. Although, today Mami suspected the reason for her late rising was much different than usual.

She tried not to think about what Homura being here meant for her calm morning. The hunter’s red-headed annoyance of a companion would surely come yelling her way here soon. Why did the two hunters have to be so close knit...

Mami glanced at her cup and sighed. Today was already shaping up to not be good - not only did she need to go out, but she’d have to deal with Kyoko Sakura before she could even begin. Maybe a second cup after she’d finished this one was in order.

Quiet shuffling from inside made her take one final glance at the city before she turned, heading towards the kitchen area and leaving her cup on the coffee table on the way. There, she spotted her good friend, naked as can be, taking out a carton of milk and eggs out of the fridge, humming with the happiness that could only come from finally acquiring the birthday present you had been longing for.

Mami quirked an eyebrow, leaning on the kitchen island. “Particularly chipper this morning, are we?”

Madoka threw her a wink. “I haven’t even showered yet but the idea of making breakfast for Homura-chan came to me like lightning as I woke up and, well, I had to prepare~”

“Very domestic of you,” Mami smiled in amusement. No matter how much time passed, Madoka's youthful cheer at activities like these would never cease to warm her heart.

“Mama always said I’d make a great wife,” Madoka said with a soft look in her eyes before snapping out of her reminiscing to stare at her friend in confusion. “Eh? You’re dressed already?”

“I have things to do today, remember?” 

Madoka snapped her fingers in realization but quickly doubled back. “Still! It’s so early, couldn’t you have done that a bit later?”

“We both know Sakura will appear like a thunderstorm any second now.”

“Her protectiveness is so adorable~” Madoka squealed.

“It’s disruptive is what it is,” Mami huffed.

Madoka grinned, and after being done with her preparations she stared towards her room. “Make sure to get me when she comes, alright? I’ll be taking that shower in the meantime~” 

“Yes, yes.” Mami waved her off. She glanced to the kitchen counter and shook her head at her friend’s exuberance before heading back into the living room. She hoped there’d be something interesting to watch.

Regrettably, she did not have much time to relax as there was an aggressive knock at their door half an hour later. Mami withheld her sigh and got up from her seat to greet their ‘guest’. 

“Sakura.” 

“Tomoe.” Kyoko said with a glare of her own. “Let me in.”

Mami forced a smile. “Please,” she gestured inside, “make yourself comfortable while I go get Madoka.”

The red-head stomped inside with a grumble.

Mami nearly slammed the door shut in barely contained irritation and went to fetch her friend. She knew not everything could be solved by killing your problems but this time she really wished she could wrap her hands around that annoying hunter’s scrawny little neck and squeeze until her head popped like a champagne cork.

“Mado-” Mami cut herself off as the door swung open and granted her full vision of the room inside. In a towel, fresh out of the shower if the steam still escaping from the bathroom was any indication and yet she was already…

“...What are you doing?” Her exasperation made the sentence come out as more of a statement than a question.

The vampire responsible stifled a yelp before quickly straightening up from her position of leaning over the hunter’s still soundly sleeping form. 

“It’s not what it looks like, I swear,” Madoka said, frantic excuses in a low tone so as to not wake Homura up, hands waving in embarrassment at being caught. “Well...” she stopped her theatrics and trailed off with a grin. “Maybe later~?”

Mami shook her head and let out a sigh. Honestly, her friend had no restrain whatsoever when it came to her ‘flings’ and unfortunately this one was proving to be one of the worst.

“Please get dressed and come to the living room.” Mami copied her friend’s volume out of consideration for the third party in the room.

“She came already?” 

“Unfortunately.”

“You sound so reluctant, Mami-san~” Madoka teased. “I’ll be there in a minute.” 

“Don’t do anything.” A stern warning reminiscent of a mother to her child.

“Who do you take me for,” Madoka exclaimed in mock offense, eyes widening with a hand on her chest above her heart for added dramatic effect.

Mami’s deadpan stare lasted for so long that when her eyebrow slowly started to rise it had Madoka instantly breaking down into giggles.

“I won’t, I won’t~ “ she said, waving her hand in dismissal and getting up from the bed. Satisfied, Mami nodded and left to make her way back to where Kyoko stood near the couch, scowling, with a duffle bag in hand. 

“Is the furniture suddenly not comfortable enough for you?” Mami’s exasperation with her friend instantly evaporated into distaste once she addressed the hunter, choosing to remain standing a little ways away while she waited for Madoka to join them.

“I ain’t staying long.” Kyoko’s scowl held just as much scorn.

“Your rudeness just continues to stack up,” the vampire said, eyes narrowing and a hand on her hip. “Don’t you know it’s disrespectful to show up at someone’s home demanding to enter and then not even make yourself comfortable? I should have left you to sit outside.” 

“Oh, but whatever the fuck that pink lunatic did was not rude at all, was it?!” Kyoko snapped, gripping her bag tighter as if ready to swing it at the blonde’s head.

“Watch your mouth!” Mami threatenly stepped forward. She had wanted to try and play nice at the start but insulting Madoka was taking it one step too far. 

“Or what?” Kyoko asked mockingly, seeming to not care at all about the murderous aura of the vampire.

“I hope me interrupting you two just before you can attack each other doesn’t become a habit~” Madoka piped up, not paying any mind to the two irritated gazes that switched to her as she stepped into the room, dressed in an oversized t-shirt and short shorts.

“Where is she?” Kyoko wasted no time in getting to the point. 

“Are you moving in already~?” Madoka ignored the question in favor of satisfying her own curiosity at seeing the duffel in the hunter’s hand.

Kyoko let out a frustrated growl and her grip on the bag tightened. “No, I’m not fucking moving in, I’m here to get Homura.”

Madoka’s sound of disappointment was overshadowed by the hunter once again demanding to know where her friend was. Mami’s eyebrow twitched at the raised tone.

“She’s sleeping.” Madoka finally answered, clapping her hands once and settling down on her favored chair. “Please lower your voice, I don’t want her to get woken up.”

“Of fucking course, now that she’s where ya want her you give a shit about her health,” Kyoko sneered, foot tapping away in agitation. “Gotta keep your ‘toys’ in good condition! Lord forbid ya get bored of ‘em too fast.”

“Don’t assume my intentions,” Madoka said, frowning and nonchalantly playing with the heart shaped pillow, briefly entertaining the thought of throwing it in the hunter’s face. The idea instantly made her frown turn upside down.

“There ain’t nothing to assume!” Kyoko seethed at Madoka’s expression that only served to show that she wasn’t being taken seriously. “It’s pretty fucking obvious!”

“Language,” Mami snapped, having enough of the hunter’s foul mouth and finally walking up to finish her cup of blood that had been abandoned on the coffee table when the red-head had barged in. 

“Shut the hell up, grandma!” Kyoko’s tempter swung like a pendulum from the pink nuisance to the blonde one. “Of all the fucking things to harp on me about, who gives a shit about cursing in our day and age!”

“Are you perhaps daft?” Mami was itching to break the teacup and stab the hunter with all of the sharp pieces. “Me not wanting you to cuss like a child every two seconds makes it pretty clear that _I_ care.”

“Are you perhaps deaf?” Kyoko repeated mockingly. “Didn’t I establish early on that I don’t give a damn?” 

“And before Madoka stepped in I was about to teach you to start.” Her tone heavily implied that she would start ‘teaching’ right this second if she was given the chance.

Madoka’s eyes lit up with a brilliant idea as they bounced between the two furious individuals.

“Why don’t you accompany Mami-san out on a walk so you can calm down, Kyoko-chan~?” 

“What!?” both of them screeched out in outrage.

“Be quiet!” Madoka shushed them, frowning in disapproval. “If you wake Homura-chan up I’ll kick you both out for the entire day.”

“Madoka, you can’t be serious.” Mami very nearly slammed the empty cup back on the table.

“About making her accompany you or me not letting you back inside if you wake Homura-chan up~?” Madoka asked innocently. 

The blonde’s face strained to remain neutral and Madoka couldn’t contain her grin. This was one of the most fun ideas she’d ever had~

“I ain’t going anywhere, you fucking lunatic!” Kyoko barely stopped herself from taking out her weapon and swinging it in the direction of the smug vampire’s face. “I’m stayin’ right fucking here until Homura wakes up.”

Madoka hummed as if she was actually considering letting the hunter do as she wanted. “Nope, you’re going! And you’re leaving your duffle here~”

“Fuck no!”

“I’m certain it would be much safer here than where you’re going with Mami-san~” 

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about what you think! I ain’t dumb enough to leave our valuables to you!”

“Mami-san please don’t say anything,” Madoka requested, not even needing to look to know that Mami was prepping to fling an insult at the hunter. She ignored the annoyed huff from her friend as she stiffly walked into the kitchen in order to focus her attention back on the hunter.

“Kyoko-chan.”

“ _Pinky._ ” The red-head’s acknowledgement was filled to the brim with hate.

“I’m guessing all your Grief Seeds are in that bag and their disappearance is what you’re most worried about?” The tense silence paired with Kyoko’s glare was confirmation enough. “Why do you think I’d do anything to the items that allow Homura-chan to fight?” 

“Because you’d rather have her weak and at your fucking mercy,” Kyoko said in a tone that made it sound like her words were the most obvious thing in the world. 

Madoka exhaled in amusement. “See? You know nothing~” She stood up just as Mami came back.

“Leave your bag here and join Mami-san on her little outing.” Her statement left no room for arguments. “I won’t take anything, cross my heart and hope to die~” The vampire did the actions spoken and stepped closer to grasp the duffel’s strap.

Kyoko fought the violent instinct that urged her to wrestle it away. The two stared at each other, Madoka’s shorter frame doing nothing to dissuade the sheer presence she exuded in the blink of an eye, with a smile that made the hunter’s entire stance slide into battle readiness.

“Let’s go.” Mami’s reluctant voice cut through the tension like a knife, prompting Kyoko to let go and stomp towards the blonde who was waiting at the threshold.

A finger was shoved in the red-head’s face the second she got close enough. “You will keep your mouth shut for the entirety of my errand.”

“Fuck you.” The snarl was instant.

“Play nice you two~” Madoka’s playful warning stopped Mami from taking the opportunity to swing at the hunter and poke out her eye, she didn’t need both to function.

“Where we’re going there are plenty of stairs and balconies you can accidentally fall down from if you keep this up.” Instead she had to settle for extreme passive aggressiveness and not so thinly veiled threats.  
  
“Wouldn’t be my fault then if my spear accidentally slips while I’m falling and takes your dumb drill haired head off of your stupid shoulders,” Kyoko shot back, undeterred.

The smiles they beamed at each other were only teeth and no warmth whatsoever. Madoka was left staring at the door in amusement as it clicked shut.

“What am I gonna do with those two~?” she chuckled lightly and dropped the duffle on the couch.

* * *

Kyoko was silent during their descent to the lobby of the hotel, her mind whirling with ideas. 

The only reason she had relented so easily to the pink lunatic’s idea was because this was an invaluable chance to start attempting to get on Mami’s good side which, granted, was going to take a lot of effort. She probably shouldn’t have let her temper get the best of her like that in there but, come on, it wasn’t her fault Madoka kept on doing things that made her furious and the blonde was such a fucking pain to deal with!

And speaking of the things that made Kyoko furious, she frowned as the memories of this past week replayed in her head. She had to find out what that bitch did to Homura so she could start thinking of ways to get her friend out of whatever she had fallen into, and Mami was her best chance at getting that information.

It was officially sucking up time. Not to extreme measures, though, can’t have Mami catching onto her - her types were the trickiest to fool. 

“You can run along now,” Mami said as soon as the two were outside the building. 

Tryna get rid of her? Like hell she’d let that happen!

“And leave ya all on your lonesome?” Kyoko batted her eyes in an attempt to be cute, making the other woman’s face contort in disgust. “Pinky would be sooo mad if I committed such a heinous crime.”

“That’s something you’d delight in doing,” Mami waved her hand and started walking without bothering to look back, “so do us both a favor and leave me be while you follow your desires like the animal you are.”

The path the vampire took had Kyoko grinning, luck was on her side for once. She waited for about two seconds before leisurely strolling in the same direction with hands in her pockets.

“What?” She raised a brow at the annoyed glare that was briefly directed at her. “I’m just followin’ my desires like ‘the animal that I am’.”

“Excuse me!” Mami was aghast and whirled around with all the intent and purposes of slapping the hunter dead regardless of Madoka’s warnings. The nerve! The sheer indecency of this person! 

“Oh don’t flatter yourself.” Kyoko rolled her eyes and passed by the sputtering blonde. “I’m starving and the shop that sells the best chicken wings is this way.”

The hunter barely suppressed her snickering at the sound of Mami’s boots chasing after her. The two walked side by side for some time, the empty streets slowly filling up with late risers, and once the delicious wings were acquired she turned towards her company.

“Quick question,” Kyoko started, already knowing what to ask to get to the bottom of things as fast as possible. “What the fu-dge did Pinky do to Homura?” She grimaced at not being able to say ‘fuck’, it just didn’t carry the same weight at all damn it. The things she did to butter people up, god.

Mami remained dead silent, not even acknowledging the fact Kyoko was still walking with her even after getting her meal. Oh, silent treatment time, was it? That was fine, Kyoko could do rambling. Or maybe it would be wiser to just stay silent as well and eat her food. Hmmm...

* * *

Homura stretched with a small grumble and kept her eyes closed, unwilling to let go of the comfort just yet. She couldn’t remember the last time she slept so well, not with the racket that always came from the outside of their shitty apartment as soon as the day began, crowds of people flooding the streets and bustling about. She wasn’t used to the merciful quiet that greeted her now, nor to the softness of the mattress or the covers... Her eyes snapped open and her blood ran cold as she stared at the white ceiling that was just a bit too high up and too clean to belong to her room, and cringed when the memories came flooding back. This was bad. This was very bad, she couldn’t believe she allowed this to happen. She shot up, sitting on the bed and pulling the covers up upon realizing she had no clothes on. Her eyes darted around the room and sure enough, Madoka was there, leaning against the doorframe to her room with an amused smile. 

“Good morning, darling,” she said all too happily. “Did you sleep well?”

The vampire’s voice stirred something within her that she violently suppressed with all the willpower she could muster. “What did you do to me?”

“Oh my, jumping straight to the point, are we?” Madoka walked over to sit on the bed, close enough so that Homura shuffled away slightly on instinct. “I suppose I can tell you now, since you were such a good hunter last night~” 

Homura shuddered at the reminder. 

“I’ve bound you to myself,” she said casually. 

Bind. A hazy memory surfaced of Madoka saying the word last night and her stomach sank. “When did you… ?”

“I think you can figure that one out on your own~”

She had heard of these types of contracts before and the conditions that had to be met to create one tended to be roughly the same; most needed a conduit and blood from both parties. There was obviously the dagger, and Madoka took more than enough blood from her on… multiple occasions, but did she ever-

She remembered the metallic taste of blood on her tongue. Of course. 

Her jaw clenched in irritation. “What kind is it.” Homura had to know exactly what she was dealing with, since she had gotten a vivid enough image of the influence it already had over her.

“One of the gentler ones,” Madoka reached out to caress the hunter’s cheek, making her frown, “a small nudge for you to answer to my desires~” 

Understatement of the century. “Why?”

“Why not?”

“No. You do not get to shrug this off, why did you bind me.” She failed to hide the rising aggravation in her voice. She absolutely had to find a way out of this. 

“It’s simply a precaution, I can’t afford to lose my dear hunter, now can I~?”

“How do you jump from that to mind-control?!” she snapped. “You did just fine stalking me without it, I’m sure you could have forced me to do what you wanted in some other way.”

The hand at her cheek moved to her chin and forced her to maintain eye contact. “Homura-chan.” The disapproval in Madoka’s voice shot through her thoughts and she struggled not to submit to the effect it had on her. “If I just wanted a mindless slave I would have chosen a different sort of binding, so please don’t jump to conclusions.”

It did little to convince her. “It feels like this one is more than enough to make me do what you want regardless of my desires.” 

For a moment Madoka’s expression was unreadable. “That’s not what it’s for. I don’t want to _force_ you to do anything. Its main purpose is to help me protect you, not hurt you.”

Anger boiled under her skin, intense to the point of irrationality, and she put a hand around Madoka’s wrist, squeezing hard. “I don’t need protection.” She expected a dismissal or a laugh, but the vampire’s eyes briefly widened. 

“Ow.”

Homura let go as if her hand had been burned. “I’m sorry, I-” she stopped when she saw Madoka’s expression. Lips curled up into a small smile and eyes that betrayed… interest?

“Will you prove it?”

Homura blinked. “Prove… it?” 

“That you’re strong enough to survive.”

“Isn’t the fact that I’m still alive proof enough for you?” she scoffed.

Right after saying that Homura’s throat was seized in a grip that threatened much more than her oxygen supply. “Not really.” The vampire flashed her a predatory grin. “I could take your life right now, just like that.”

“Which is it, then, do you want to protect me or kill me?” Homura scowled at the woman’s constant contradictions. Her own hand would have gone right back to being wrapped around Madoka’s wrist in precaution if not for a prickling in the back of her mind that refused to let her touch the vampire lest she hurt her again.

“Would you believe me if I said both~?” Madoka teased, her grip tightening slightly. “You remember our first meeting, don’t you? You dying any time soon is the exact opposite of what I want~”

“Then why threaten my life? You are making no sense.”

“I wasn’t threatening,” Madoka pouted. “I was just stating a fact~”

Homura knew that pointing out where the vampire’s hand was currently positioned would lead to nowhere so instead she tried to relax her body in hopes of being let go.

Madoka perked up at her action. “Now that you’re calmer I’ll repeat myself~” Homura was anything but calm. “I don’t want to hurt you and the binding will allow me to protect you until you can prove yourself to me.” 

“I do not believe you.” It probably wasn’t the best idea to continue arguing but Homura momentarily couldn’t bring herself to care. “Hurting me and killing me are not the same.”

Madoka released her neck and leaned back slightly with an air of exasperation. “Grab your left index finger with your other hand and pull it back until you break it.”

Homura’s eyes went wide and felt the rising dread as she anticipated the buzzing that would surely force her to comply soon. Madoka calmly looked back at her and waited. 

And they waited, and nothing happened. Hesitant, the hunter asked, “when will I have to do it?”  
  
Madoka smiled brilliantly. “You won’t! Isn’t that wonderful~?”

She squinted in doubt. It was a clear command, so why- 

“The link compels you to answer to my actual desires and as a bonus it works even better if they happen to align with your own~,” she answered the would-be question. “A request like that one won’t do anything because I don’t really want to see you hurt yourself like that, silly! And I'm sure you wouldn’t want to do that either, regardless of your particular inclinations when it comes to pain~” A wink.

Homura looked down and considered what that meant, unsure if it was enough to feel relief of any sort. She couldn’t in her right mind completely believe what the vampire was saying, thus she could only go off of what she had directly experienced. So then, should she be glad it wasn’t straight up mind-control? It still was some sort of manipulation and it was clearly able to mess with her head to the point of feeling like she was going insane. Not to mention the effects the vampire’s voice alone had on her...

“What about this past week?” Homura questioned.

“What about it~?” 

“I wouldn’t have been able to resist coming here, right? It kept getting worse to the point I…” she shook her head. She didn’t even want to think about it. 

Madoka’s expression turned apologetic. “I’m sorry, darling, I really wanted you to come here, but you know,” a glint in her eye, “I wouldn’t only blame my wish for that, the bind is more potent if both sides want the same thing, after all~”

Homura paused, both mentally and literally. “You can’t possibly mean I wanted to-”

Madoka grinned and moved closer. “Such a naughty hunter~ You’re trying to suppress your desires even now, aren’t you?”

The rising blush did not help in selling her squawked denial. Leaning in, Madoka gave her a quick peck on the lips before she pulled back and got up from the bed. 

“Wait here for a minute, alright~?”

Homura stared as the vampire left the room, then hid her face in her hands, sighing heavily. She couldn’t help but feel defeated somehow. Maybe she should skip the five stages of grief and just jump straight to acceptance. She closed her eyes and fell back onto the bed, jumbled thoughts refusing to leave her alone until the smell of some type of food started wafting into the room, snapping her out of it and making her keenly aware of just how hungry she was. 

“All done~”

The hunter flinched and abruptly sat back up only to be greeted by a tray on which rested a generous serving of the fluffiest pancakes Homura had ever seen.

“Wha–” She couldn’t finish her sentence before the food was placed over her lap.

“Breakfast in bed~” Madoka chirped. “I made them myself so eat them all, okay? I’m sure you haven’t had much of anything lately, and once you’re done you can take a shower~”

Homura stared in disbelief, eyes rapidly switching between the delicious looking breakfast and the vampire who once again sat by her side.

“What’s with the look?” Madoka crossed her arms in offense. “Did you think only Mami-san could cook? So rude!”

“N-no,” Homura stammered, completely taken off-guard by the gesture. “I’m just… surprised.”

“You better start before they get cold,” Madoka urged. “Unless you would like me to feed you~?” She grinned cheekily.

The vampire looked way too eager so Homura did not waste much time thinking about it and picked up the utensils sitting beside the plate.

* * *

“So where are we going, your Highness?” 

Mami exhaled deeply. “Why are you still following me?” 

Little miss sunshine was talking back! Progress!

“Cause it’s what Pinky so politely asked of us, duh,” Kyoko said exaggeratedly. “We’re gonna go back at the end of the day as best friends and rub it in her face! And aren’t you the one who’s supposed to go along with literally every little thing she wants, anyway?”

Mami grit her teeth and flexed her hands in an effort to keep her cool. “ _I_ am going to the mansion at the edge of town.”

“Wait what? I thought that place was off limi-” Kyoko cut herself off after realizing who she was talking to. “Aight, I’ll bite. Why the hell are we going there?”

“Because there will be a gala soon and preparations are already underway.” Mami gave up trying to make the hunter go away. It was like speaking to a child, better to answer her questions and hope she shuts up afterwards.

“Okay…?”

“I’m in charge of inspection to make sure everything is going according to plan.”

“Seriously? Why the hell are _you_ doing that?” 

“Because people are incompetent.” Mami resisted adding ‘like you’ at the end of her sentence. There was little use in riling her up now that she was finally being somewhat tolerable.

“Oh I get it,” Kyoko snickered. “You’re the type that does everything on their own cause ya don’t trust anyone, aren't cha?”

She raised her hands at Mami’s dirty look. “Hey I get it. Bein’ vulnerable in this business may as well be suicide.”

The two settled in a silence shortly after their brief exchange. Kyoko still sometimes shot a befuddled look around herself and at the people who walked around them, giving them a wide berth of space. It was crazy the amount of fear this vampire instilled in people. The hunter hadn’t felt nearly as threatened to be completely honest, but she chalked that up to Madoka’s influence. The blonde was wrapped around her finger and it was kind of unnerving, really. What the hell happened to make Mami practically bend over backwards for that pink lunatic?

They were finally nearing the aforementioned mansion, which prompted Kyoko to pick her chosen topic of discussion up again.

“How long are ya gonna do this “inspection” thing for?” She air quoted. The very notion of doing such a thing for a mere party was mind boggling. “Every day or what?”

“Once a week at least.” 

Kyoko nearly tripped over her own feet from shock. “What the he-ck? How long does it take to pretty up a single room? Are y’all holding an event or reconstructing the entire da-rn place.” Kyoko made sure to keep correcting herself just before she could curse, but she couldn't _not_ roll her eyes, both at the need for it at all and at the bullshit shenanigans of rich people. 

Mami couldn’t help shaking her head. Everything the “higher class” did was needlessly over the top, that much she agreed with.

* * *

“Could you exit the room or at least turn around?”

“Whatever for~?”

“...So I can get dressed?”

Madoka laughed. “Darling, please, what’s the point in acting shy now~?”

Homura struggled not to look away, standing still by the bed with her clothes in hand. She had just gotten out of the shower and desperately wanted to cover herself up.

“Actually, you know what–”

Homura nearly flinched when the clothes were ripped from her hands. She crossed her arms to compensate.

“I changed my mind. You’re not putting on these ugly things.”

“...Ugly?” Homura was definitely not sulking. Her hunter outfit was cool no matter what Madoka had to say about it.

“Not to mention how filthy,” Madoka scrunched up her nose and put them in a basket to be washed later. “I have a much better idea,” she said with a smile and opened up her closet, which was so absurdly large and unnaturally bright on the inside it appeared to be glowing. The only thing missing would be angels singing ‘hallelujah’ in the background. What on earth…

* * *

“Holy shi--” Kyoko was really struggling today. “This place has a ball room!?”

Mami fought down a smile. Hunters were nothing like the people Mami usually associated with - they were loud, brash, and rarely if ever felt the need to hide their true intentions, which was why the woman’s continuous corrections on her cursing habit were becoming somewhat endearing, not that Mami would ever say that aloud. “Indeed, this is where the main event will be held.”

The entire area was full of countless species in charge of a variety of things that ranged from decoration to furniture placement, flower arrangement, cleaning and many more. It was all excellently organized and Mami couldn’t help but beam in pride. 

Kyoko was still gaping at it all by the time Mami was done talking with the people in charge of their respective sections, which made the blonde roll her eyes and tug her forward. There was the rest of the building to inspect after all.

The two painstakingly went through the numerous halls and rooms which had at least one or two workers in them at any given moment. Mami had to threaten some of them quite severely on at least three different occasions for trying to swipe at things that were not theirs. She’d have to take an account of all the things in this building and make sure nothing was taken while she wasn’t there. After all, this specific mansion did not belong to her and if anything went missing she’d be the one paying for it. Bothersome. 

“Hey,” Kyoko finally built up the resolve to try and get the blonde’s attention as they trekked through the topmost floor. She had been silent throughout the entirety of her activities after the third threat was thrown out, which would have ended in murder if the poor bastard hadn’t started crying and begging. This lady was as wacko as her lunatic of a friend, jesus fuck. She didn’t even consider that maybe, just maybe, the thief desperately needed the money she would get from the items, hell, the woman looked the part of a homeless person… snake… whatever. Bottom line was, Mami didn’t give a shit and that rubbed Kyoko in the entirely wrong way. All these rich fuckers and they still horded their shit like some demented dragons, she hated it.

The brief shift of the vampire’s eyes in her direction told her she was being listened to. Progress… yay. 

“I would really, really like to know what P-Madoka did.” The hunter hoped this time she wouldn’t run into a dead end, she even added a ‘please’ at the end of her sentence for good measure even though it hurt her to do so.

Mami once again remained silent, guiding them both out onto the balcony. The threat of being pushed off to fall to her death flashed through her mind and Kyoko immediately tensed up, staying as far away from the edge as she could without being rude. The blonde leaned on the railing with her back facing the outside and looked at the hunter, her silence only making the red-head more anxious.

“I will not tell you anything, so I suggest you stop asking.” Mami’s final verdict was merciless. Well, Kyoko shouldn’t have been surprised. It would take more than just trying not to curse to get on her good side, and yet she couldn’t stop her shoulders from slumping in defeat, if just a bit.

“I’m positive Madoka has already explained it to your friend,” Mami continued, looking back into the city and making Kyoko instantly perk up. “If she hasn’t forbidden Homura from speaking about it you can ask her yourself.”

Well shit, that already gave her more information than she expected! 

Though, the implications of Madoka seemingly being able to tell Homura what to and what not to do weren’t sitting well with her at all. Honestly, she would rather not go down that rabbit hole yet and, for her own sake, assume Mami didn’t mean that literally. At least until she got to talk with Homura one-on-one. 

Kyoko released a breath and rubbed her face. What a clusterfuck. How did she and Homura end up in the middle of one unhinged individual and her friend who was willing to do whatever to please said unhinged individual? 

It was too late to apologise to her friend for bumping into Lunatic Number 2 on that not so faithful day, wasn’t it? If what Mami alluded to turned out to be correct then yea… yea it definitely would be.

* * *

“Can I please just put my own clothes on,” Homura attempted to plead once more, standing in the middle of the overly spacious walk-in closet, doing her best to keep still while Madoka buttoned up the neat white dress shirt she forced onto her. 

“No,” she simply answered, continuing her ministrations.

Homura sighed. “Is there a reason for this or…?”

“I’m just having some fun~”

Homura certainly wasn’t. “I fail to see how being dressed like this would be practical anywhere.”

Madoka almost looked offended. “It’s not about being practical, it’s about looking good.” She walked towards a drawer while Homura glanced down at herself. How did she end up playing dress-up doll?

“I’m a hunter, I don’t need to ‘look good’.” 

Madoka considered the two ties in her hand, then put both back. “I disagree~”

“Why do you even have these kinds of clothes, I’m not your size.” Homura almost added that she wasn’t her style, either.

That had the vampire smiling mischievously. “That’s a secret,” she said as she walked back, settling on a dark purple tie. Homura stopped herself from rolling her eyes at how unnecessary it all felt while Madoka tied it around her neck, but otherwise didn’t resist. Not like there was anything she could possibly say to dissuade Madoka from having her way at this point.

“By the way, Kyoko-chan came to visit earlier,” Madoka mentioned casually, as if that wasn’t something Homura should have been told the moment she woke up. She tensed.

“What? When?”

A light tug at the tie. “Relax, darling. She came to check on you and left when she saw how peacefully you slept~”

That just made her more uneasy. Kyoko definitely would have woken her up if she had the chance. 

Seeing the stern expression on her face Madoka spoke up. “Your friend is fine, pinky promise!” She hooked Homura’s pinky with her own for good measure. “She also brought a duffel with her and left it here, I presume you know what for?”

Homura felt the blood drain from her face. “What day is it.” 

“Saturday, you slept for a while~” 

“...Fuck.” 

“What’s wrong?” Homura mentally stuttered at what sounded like genuine concern in the vampire’s voice. 

“I missed my dose.” 

Madoka cocked her head to the side. “Really? The bag is in the living room,” she said and let go of Homura’s tie, the released hunter quickly making her way there.

She rummaged through the duffel and exhaled in relief when she held the Grief Seed in her hand. 

“Can you show me?” Madoka inquired from behind her.

Homura hesitated, but didn’t see a reason not to. Sitting on the couch, she began crumpling up the sleeve of her shirt above her elbow while Madoka settled beside her to watch intently. With practiced movements she pressed the top of the black container, making a needle emerge from the pointy end, then inserted it into the vein and let the medicine do the rest. She leaned back and closed her eyes for a second while the burning cold spread through her body, paralyzing in its intensity. It was never pleasant, but she knew it was necessary. She was lucky to have Kyoko there looking out for her, she couldn’t believe she missed her dose by four entire days. 

Though, considering how her week had gone, maybe it wasn’t all that surprising.

* * *

Grief Seeds were not always used as medicine, that Madoka knew better than anyone. 

A long time ago, after she had been reunited with Mami, Madoka had avoided them like the plague, each instance of being in that cursed item’s presence bringing back flashes of the past that she desperately wanted to forget. 

Alas, as time marched on and the world became saturated with the things, they soon grew impossible to avoid. Their purpose gradually morphing from weapon to currency, drug, and finally, medicine, combined with Mami’s position in the Underground, meant she more often than not had to go through with various business transactions that involved Grief Seeds as payment. She had to attempt to forget, then, lest she be forced into explaining to Mami her reasonings, which were much too painful for her to try and re-visit.

It was torturous at first, but with each month, with each year that passed those aching memories slowly became overshadowed by new ones. Not all were positive, greed and malice driving people to come up with ever new ways of inflicting suffering with the objects, but in their world that was to be expected. There, in between the power struggles, she was able to witness countless instances of how much they helped people, too, making it possible for her to slowly cover up everything that hurt, little by little, until she could finally look at them and see hope. 

Maybe that was why Madoka had been able to convince herself that time could heal all wounds.

But now, as she watched and as she noticed how the Grief Seed began changing the machinations of her dear hunter’s body, the realization of her grave error of judgement struck like lightning. That naive, innocent assumption she had come to automatically jump to without warning turning into a trojan horse which destroyed all of her carefully built walls from the inside out, ripping old wounds open that left her drowning in a sea of horrible, suffocating emotions.

She was glad the hunter was too preoccupied with the procedure to pay attention to the horror that was surely painted all over her face. 

She hadn’t thought twice about what her dear hunter needed the medicine for. So much time had passed since she’d last seen Grief Seeds affect someone in this way that she came to believe she wouldn’t witness it ever again, but this… these godawful familiar signs left no room for doubt in her mind. 

Instead of strengthening it they _slowed_ her heart, they weakened her, drained her! Couldn’t she feel it? The Grief Seed was doing exactly what it was originally created to do, which could only mean-

She fought the violent, nearly overwhelming urge to rip the offending object right out of Homura’s arm. Why would she willingly do this to herself? It made her blood boil when she thought about how someone might have pressured her into this - she absolutely had to find out who or what it was so she could make them regret their entire existence. There were few things in this twisted world that she despised more than forcing others to suppress who they really were.

Seeing Homura finally dispose of the spent Grief Seed with tired movements, she slipped back into character. “Hey, darling?” 

“Hm?” Homura could only muster a grumble. A flash of hot white fury, not at Homura, but at whatever was making her stay in such a weakened state.

“What exactly do you need those Grief Seeds for?” she asked, feigning disinterest by looking at her neatly polished nails with barely concealed disdain. 

Homura sighed. “I thought you knew? They’re for my heart condition.”

 _Heart condition_ , she wanted to scoff, and to think that, initially, it had fooled her too. She didn’t let it show and instead brought a hand to the hunter’s cheek in a show of sympathy. “I know about that, but what do they _do_?”

Homura looked a bit puzzled at her questioning, but answered. “Nothing pleasant but… I don’t really know, I’ve been taking them since I can remember and they keep me and my heart going.” She glanced at the inside of her elbow. “Taking them isn’t great but the side effects don’t last long and they kind of… stabilize everything.”

Lies. _Lies._ And yet the binding would have never allowed the hunter to speak these words unless she truly believed them to be true... “Since you can remember?” she pressed on, desperate for something, _anything_.

Homura’s stare turned blank and she gave no answer. 

Ah, Madoka was quick to reassure that her question needn’t be answered before too much time could pass and prompt the binding into punishing the disobedience of the hunter that seemed to have hit a wall in her memories. 

It looked like she’d have to take her time with unravelling this atrocious crime, but that was fine by her. She’d give her dear hunter all the time in the world.

“Homura-chan,” Madoka started, making sure to school her expression and not allow the anger in her voice to be evident as she called the other woman’s attention back to her. She carefully climbed over to straddle her, keeping eye contact the entire time, while Homura’s arms came up to lightly wrap around her waist, probably on instinct. Holding her hunter’s face in her hands, she leaned over so their foreheads touched. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” 

For what her hunter was unknowingly doing to herself. For more than likely being _forced_ into this sick parody of a situation, someone like _her_ shouldn’t be- “For what I’m about to do.”

She closed in and pressed her lips to Homura’s, slowly and deliberately, taking comfort in how easily her kiss was returned. She didn’t rush to bring it to a stop, going as far as allowing her eager hunter to dictate the pace for a bit. When she felt a hand run through her hair she pulled back, refusing to lose herself in it and instead began trailing kisses along Homura’s jaw until she arrived at her neck.

Wasting no time, she sank her fangs into Homura’s jugular, drawing out a quiet hiss of pain from the hunter, though, thankfully, instead of being pushed away she was only hugged tighter. Good, Madoka didn’t intend on being forceful for once. The taste of blood flooded her mouth, divine as always - neither better nor worse than from before she took the Grief Seed, as she suspected, but her thoughts did not linger on that - rather, they were filled with a single minded kind of purpose. She’d take it all, clear Homura’s blood of that filth and draw out her true self, save her from this hell she had found herself in.

Madoka knew she had overstayed her welcome the moment Homura began clawing at her back and pulled away to look at her hunter’s face, which was decidedly paler than it’d been.  
  
“Wasn’t that… a bit much.”

Madoka smiled, apologetic. “I did say sorry~” 

Seeing Homura’s exasperated expression reassured Madoka that she was completely fine. Her hunter was stronger than that, now she was sure, and it only solidified her desire to fix what was broken. She moved off of her lap and leaned against the side rest on the opposite side of the couch, spreading her arms in a welcoming motion.  
  
Homura simply stared, raising one brow. 

Madoka almost rolled her eyes. “I feel like cuddling, come here?”

That actually seemed to fluster the hunter but, hesitantly, she complied.

* * *

“We’re back,” Kyoko all but yelled as soon as she stepped into the apartment, in large part so Homura could hear her and call for help if the pink lunatic tied her up somewhere. Luckily, she spotted her friend not soon after, laying on the couch with the TV turned on and looking _obnoxiously_ comfortable. “Hello? Am I interrupting anything?”  
  
“Not really,” the vampire answered from her position of being cuddled up on top of Homura, whose eyes darted between Kyoko and Mami, but who otherwise didn’t even _attempt_ to move.

Well, this was awkward, Homura didn’t really look like she needed saving. Unbelievable that for a split second they almost managed to look functional together. Wait. 

“Homura, what the fuck are you wearing?”  
  
“Language,” Mami immediately scolded.

“Oh come on! Look at this shit! The- is that a suit?! That deserves a ‘fuck’.” 

“It sure does~” Madoka chimed in and Kyoko almost choked on her pocky. She kind of just didn’t feel like dealing with them anymore. 

“Homura, did she brainwash you?” 

Homura stared at her for a moment. “I’m genuinely not sure.” 

Great! What the fuck was she supposed to do with that information?!

* * *

**Omake**

“I have a much better idea,” Madoka said with a smile and opened up her closet, which was so absurdly large and unnaturally bright on the inside it appeared to be glowing. 

Homura could not even begin to comment on it before she was grabbed and they both stepped in and continued to step in further than it should have been possible even for a space as big as it was. Was she starting to hear birds chirping?

“M-Madoka?”

“Shhh we’re going on an adventure~”

“What?!”

“Welcome to Narnia, Homura-chan!”

The hunter’s brain completely shut down at that announcement coupled with the entire new world that suddenly came into focus around them. The crunch of snow beneath her feet and the cold wind just didn’t make any sense...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A change in dynamic?! Tune in next time!


End file.
